CHAOS 



AND THE 



CREATION; 



IN EIGHT CANTOS. 



WITH ELUCIDATIVE NOTES. 



BY 

TRINITARIUS. 



nom |D3 rvasttrai vixn yp-i ditemi own *nn rorr i?Nn 

Isaiah, xlii. 5.—: W DoW> nm Tttyf Oyb 
oi isgccvor — Hebrews, i. 10. 



LONDON: 
HATCHARD AND SON, PICCADILLY; 

AND 

STEVENSON, CAMBRIDGE. 

M.DCCC.XXXIV. 



Tf? ^\ 

n C 



LONDON: 

Printed by J. L. Cox and Son, 75, Great Queen Street, 

Lincoln's-Inn Fields. 



/fit*. 



TO THE 

UNIVERSITY OF CAMBRIDGE, 

THIS WORK, 

WITH FEELINGS OF THE STRONGEST ATTACHMENT, 

IS DEDICATED 

BY A TRINITY MEMBER OF ITS SENATE, 

THE AUTHOR. 



PREFACE. 



In offering this Poem for the perusal of the 
public, I am particularly anxious to give my 
reasons for having selected so lofty a theme, 
especially as there are many elaborate works at 
the present day extant upon it : but frequently 
being astonished at the difference which exists 
in the opinions of the most learned, as to the 
primary cause of Chaos, and of what it con- 
sisted (some even going so far as to deny that 
it ever had being), the idea struck me that the 
most likely origin of this crude and impure mass 
was the fall of Lucifer ; and this, I submit, appears 
possible on the following grounds : 

Firstly. That it is highly improbable that a God 
of order should have allowed such a confused heap 
as Chaos is represented to be in the first chapter of 
Genesis, to have remained disorganized from eternity 



6 ..- -PREFACE. 

until the Creation, which it must have done, unless 
it originated as I imagine, or in some other way. 

Secondly. That it seems impossible, that such a 
being as the first archangel in heaven should have 
fallen, with millions of his followers (all subject 
to none but the Deity himself), without causing 
some great convulsion. 

And Thirdly, it appears to add much to the glory 
of Divinity, to suppose that the Creation was a 
work of triumph and victory, rather than one merely 
of fancy or caprice. 

Let it be understood, that in using the foregoing 
expression, I intend nothing irreverent, since I 
may be as far, or farther than any one else, from 
assigning the true cause of this stupendous mani- 
festation of divine power ; but I have not yet per- 
ceived any motive apparent upon the face of Reve- 
lation, for the great undertaking of the Six Days. 

Let it not be presumed, that I dare profess for a 
moment, to penetrate the mystery that envelopes 
the Eternal One; on the contrary, I am more 
than ever convinced of the uselessness of the at- 
tempt, and therefore have only endeavoured to 



PREFACE. 7 

exemplify or illustrate by an imaginary Chaos and 
Creation the real one ; but I am desirous to prove 
to Infidels and Sceptics, that such is the per- 
fection of Jehovah's deeds, that any mortal with 
common capabilities (if he will take the trouble) 
may discover a probable origin and mode of per- 
formance for one of his greatest works. 

Those commentators who deny the existence of 
Chaos, assume their position from the circumstance, 
that the first sentence in the Bible, when fully 
translated, reads thus : "In the beginning God 
" created the substance of the heavens, and the 
"substance of the earth;" but this construction 
rather supports than destroys my argument, since 
here it is evident, that God formed out of con- 
fusion the self-evident and tangible qualities of the 
universe, which before were huddled together in a 
state of incongruity, partaking of all yet denning 
none. And this is proved by the verse which 
follows; viz. "And the earth was without form 
" and void (i. e. not in being), and darkness was 
" upon the face of the deep, and the Spirit of God 
" moved upon the face of the waters :" what 



8 PREFACE. 

deep? what waters? unless, as I imagine, a 
watery waste existed before the Creation. 

There is another point I have humbly endea- 
voured to cast some light upon, and in which, 
should I have erred, I trust an all-merciful and 
all-judging Being will pardon the aggression. 

Nothing, especially at the present day, seems 
to be more difficult of solution with professing 
Christians, than the Holy Trinity. It is the 
unfortunate barrier which shuts out many, in other 
respects sincere followers of Christ, ~viz. the Uni- 
tarians. What would one of this sect say, if I were 
to tell him that he himself was a Trinity — and yet 
I hope to prove it undeniably. 

That he has two distinct parts, although he can 
at present perceive but one (unless he is a Mate- 
rialist), I think he will not deny; viz. Body 
and Soul. And is it not as easy to combine three 
as two ? The beast has a body, and he has a mind 
to direct him ; so likewise has man, who alone has 
the third and most important part, the soul; that 
portion which he received at the creation with the 
other two (more denned elsewhere) direct from God 



PREFACE. 9 

himself. " Let us make man in our own image" 
were the creative words, and humanity was shapen 
in the similitude of the Triune God., 

The translation of the word persona has been the 
principal cause of this misunderstanding, as it 
means character, office, attribute, power, &c. ; as well 
as person, the general signification given to it. Three 
Persons in one God, might be as correctly rendered 
three Powers in one God. 

I am desirous that every one who reads this 
Poem may perfectly understand that my tenets 
are those of the established church, and that if I 
depart in some minute points from them, it is for 
the purpose of rendering the greater ones more clear, 
rather than for the object of detracting from the 
whole. I here declare myself a Trinitarian most 
extensively and uncompromisingly ; as also &jirm 
believer in the doctrine of Immaterialism, and 
which I trust, will appear upon the face of my 
notes on these subjects. 

It was my intention originally, to have written 
a short prose work upon these and various other 
points of a like kind ; but, having since thought 



10 PREFACE. 

that in a Poem they would be more interesting to 
the generality of readers, I have chosen the present 
grand subject to embody them. 

It may be as well to state, that not being 
pressed by necessity, but actuated only by a wish 
to gratify and benefit, if such should be my re- 
ward, I shall feel myself amply remunerated for 
my exertions. 

In conclusion, should there be any thing new or 
likely to be of service in this production, I take no 
credit to myself, since He whose creature I am, 
has an undoubted right to the praise for any useful 
ideas, which I should not have possessed but for 
Him ; and I trust the same almighty and bene- 
ficent Being will continue to direct my endea- 
vours towards the general advantage of my fellow- 
creatures, the glory of His name, and the general 
discomfiture of the Enemy of mankind. 



CANTO I. 



" How art thou fallen from heaven, oh Lucifer, son of the morning !" &c«— Isa. xiv. 12. 

" And he said unto them, I beheld Satan as lightning, fall from heaven."T-LuKE x. 18. 

** He was a destroyer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no 
truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own ; for he is a liar, and the 
father of it.— John viii. 44. 

" God spared not the angels that sinned, but cast them down to hell, and delivered them 
into chains of darkness to be reserved unto judgment."— 2 Pet. ii. 4. 

" The angels which- kept not their first estate, but left their own habitation, he hath 

reserved in everlasting chains under darkness, unto the judgment of the great day." 

Jude 6. 



ARGUMENT. 



Invocation to the Deity. — Lucifer the first sinner, and ingratitude 
the first crime. — The state of Satan before his rebellion. — His own 
mental feelings of revolt and their cause. — His open declaration and 
promise of reward to those who would elect him ruler of heaven, 
artfully supported by exciting the pride of his hearers. — A portion 
of the angels declare him king. — The fidelity of Michael and other 
angels, and his anathema of Lucifer. — The astonishment of the rebel- 
lious to find themselves suddenly transformed. — The voice of God 
from amid the cherubim declares their doom. — The fall of the devils 
pursued by Michael. — The effects they produced. — Chaos begins. — 
Of what composed. — They reach hell, God's kindled wrath. — From 
their bed of misery they send forth groans, which become the winds. 
— The waters descend to enclose them, producing a revolving action. — 
Satan's savage reflections upon his followers. — The answer of the 
devil next to him before their fall, and its general approvement by the 
whole band. — The joyous state of heaven. — Michael announces his 
victory and the commencement of Chaos, ascribing all triumph to 
God alone. — The Deity's commendation of Michael and his angels, de- 
claring at the same time, that the fall of Satan should add to, instead 
of take from his glory, by calling his creative powers into action. — 
The angels praise God in chorus. 



CANTO FIRST, 



©rigtn of atfwoa* 

Oh thou Eternal Being ! whom as yet, 

No mortal eye within its feeble range 

Hath scann'd, — thou triple form of mystery ! 

Thou — who didst summon in thy holiness 

To immortality the countless host, 

Which round thy everlasting throne compress'd 

To shout thy praises with melodious song, 

For long unnumber'd ages 'ere this world 

Another glory added to thy name ; — 

Thou,— who thyself no origin hast known, 

But from eternity wast Lord of all, 

And Lord of all shall evermore remain ; — 

Thou, — who, when the archangel Lucifer, 

In Heav'n before his fall the next to Thee, 

Revolted in his pride, and from him cast 



14 ORIGIN OF CHAOS. [Canto I. 

Allegiance to thy Almighty will, 

Didst hurl him, howling, headlong into hell ; 

There with his rebel band in agony, 

To float upon a foaming flood of flames, 

The overflowings of thy kindled wrath ; — 

Do thou great God, with inspiration fill 

My soul immortal, that my mortal brain 

May wander not, but guide this trembling hand 

To trace the wonders of Creation's work, 

And humbly strike the chords of David's lyre. 



Who first committed sin ?— and what the crime ? 
And where the pretext for so foul a deed ? 
Lucifer, and ingratitude ; but none 
The pretext, saving vanity and pride, 
Is all the answer to the querist giv'n. 

Above the hierarchy of angel hosts 
Which swell'd the choir of Heaven's melody, 
Pre-eminent in lustre, Lucifer 
Shone forth the brightest ; by Jehovah raised 
To be the first archangel of his throne. 
Eternity no greater chief, save one, 



Canto I.] FALL OF LUCIFER. 15 

Acknowledged ; for to the Omnipotent 
He stood the next, — second alone to Him. 
Cupidity most strange, that e'er a thought 
Of being greater should have fill'd his brain ; — 
But so it was, and in his haughty breast 
His mighty soul ambitious thus communed : 

Why should this form, which so refulgent shines, 
Be doom'd to bend the knee, or bow the head ; 
Or why this voice of sweetest harmony 
Should chaunt the praises of another's name, 
I know no law ; — base servitude begone, 
I hurl thy badge of ignomy away ; 
Hence I'll stand forth, great Lucifer, the first, 
And not the second in these shining realms. 

Thus inwardly he cavill'd ; but anon 
Bid openly defiance to his God, 
As with a shout that echo'd Heaven through, 
He cried, " Resplendent race, behold these courts— 
Which by their brilliancy adorn expanse ; 
All these I'll give you, if ye falling down 
Will worship me and own no other Lord. 
For what is to be fear'd from one who rules 

c 



16 ORiniN OF CHAOS. [Canto I 

By other's agency, and not his own ? 

Or needs another's valour to support 

And give efficiency to his commands ? 

'Tis I that govern ; I am your control ; 

Obey my mandate, and my counsel hear. 

We are immortal, — yea, and mighty too — 

E'en as himself; — and yet whene'er we stand 

Before His presence, truly then our eyes 

Which splendour shed around are to be veil'd. 

By our broad wings ; lest by their dazzling blaze 

He might be equall'd in his light : Shame ! shame I 

Spurn the vile trammels of such slavery 

And rise superior ; — yourselves direct ; 

Scorning the folly of a steadfast reign, 

No longer truckle to tyrannic sway ; 

Let your own wishes your own conduct guide, 

Elect your Prince, renouncing Him that dwells 

Amid the cherub and seraphic host." 

So spake the Tempter ; — and amongst the group 
Of Angels numberless which heard his voice, 
Millions bow'd down, and blasphemously cried, 
" Hail Lucifer ! all hail ! for thou alone 
Art Heaven's ruler, and our only king !" 



Canto I.] FALL OF LUCIFER. 17 

Stubborn in consciousness of rectitude, 
Michael surrounded by a faithful troop, 
Standing erect th' usurper thus address'd : 
" Thou ingrate ! — dar'st thou thus insult thy Lord, 
Who raised thee to thy present eminence, 
And calFd thee into being with ourselves, 
To praise, and not blaspheme his name ? Thou fiend ! 
For such thou art as enemy to God." 
Then turning to the prostrate throng, he cried, 
" Arise besotted dupes, — arise, — behold 
Your new-created Monarch, and despair. 1 ' 

Up sprang they all ; — but what a change appeared 
To their astonish'd and affrighted view ! 
The quick and blasting influence of sin ! — 
No longer Lucifer the bright stood there ; 
A dark and loathsome fiend was all they saw ; 
Whilst from themselves all comeliness had flown, 
And fool, — and liar, — branded every brow. 

With fear immoveable they stood not long, 
For, from amid the Cherubim a sound 
More dread than thunder, struck their shrinking ears : 
" Hence ye accursed ; — nor with your foetid breath 
c 2 



18 ORIGIN OF CHAOS. [Canto I. 

Taint the pure air ; begone, — and with ye bear 

The just requital of your daring guilt. 

In fire eternal shall ye writhing coil, 

While gasping as ye ope your parching lips, 

A briny tear shall from your streaming eyes 

With sharpened anguish sting your scorching tongue, 

Satan (for that shall henceforth be thy name, 

Oh Lucifer), a coat of mail shall swathe 

Thy noisome form with everlasting bands, 

That ever as thou leav'st the burning gulph, 

Upon thy wicked embassies of crime, 

A red-hot case may thus enclose thy soul, 

And grant no respite from the pangs of hell. — 

Nor think thou ever hither to return, 

Since from the rivers which through Heaven flow, 

Descending torrents shall take up abode 

In vast immensity, and form a gulph 

Around thy wretched tenement, to cause 

Division 'twixt thy spirit and the blest." 

The trembling atmosphere had scarcely ceased 
To vibrate with the all-appalling words, 
When the chaste flooring, which no longer bore 
Th 1 accumulating weight of sin, gave way 



Canto I. j FALL OF LUCIFER. 1!) 

Beneath their feet, and headlong down they dashM 
Precipitate ; — nor rose again, but sank 
To howl, and yell, and gnash their searing teeth, 
In flames enkindled by Jehovah's ire. 

Thus fell the Devils ; — but how great their fall !— 
For boundless space became convulsed with fear, 
As down like blazing meteors they rush'd, 
And ever and anon tura'd round again 
With desperation to renew the fight, 
And rally in their guilty war with God. 
But ah, how vain ! for close upon their track 
Of infamy another host pursued, 
Which from the numerous gates of Heaven, 
Like brilliant stars in tenfold numbers pour'd, 
The great archangel Michael in the van, 
Arm , d with the vengeance of Almighty wrath. 

Then tumult filFd immensity around, 
Where all had been a vacuum before; 
For Chaos held no occupation there 
Until the fate of this rebellious band 
Of angels, but was a peaceful blank, 
By sin untenanted and undefiled. — 



20 ORIGIN OF CHAOS. [Canto L 

Not so when Satan fled ; for then expanse 
With horror felt the blasphemies proceed 
From the first infidel's unhallow'd tongue; 
And lest its purity should be defiled 
By mixing with such vile unholy sounds, 
RepelFd his imprecations, with the cries 
Of terror which his shrieking tribe sent forth, 
In broad expansion mingling, to unite 
With mighty floods of briny tears which flow'd 
From them desponding, and in darkness form 
A putrifying and chaotic slime. 

Urged on in downward course, at last they found 
The unfix 1 d centre of infinitude ; 
And there concentrating a flaming sea 
Their frighted souls awaited, — for each curse 
That left the bosom of Almighty God, 
As on their guilty heads it struck, caught fire, 
And streaming off again, but lower fell, 
To form a burning lake of endless woe, 
In which to steep the spirits of the damn'd. — 

Into this flood of misery they plunged, 
And to its surface when again they rose, 



Canto L] FALL OF LUCIFER. 2i 

Upwards they turn'd their glaring eyes, and saw- 
Michael surrounded by his shining host, 
In triumph enfring the gates of Heaven. — - 
Forth from their reeking lair they sent a blast 
Of deafning groans and waitings that up-weni 
Pregnant with torment, but no ingress gain'd 
Within the portals of eternal joy. — 
From the impenetrable walls the sound 
Rebounded back, recoiling into space, 
There in the shape of howling winds to rush 
With unremitting clamour to and fro, 
And buffet Chaos till restraint by God. 

And now the waters with discordant roar 
Descending, hastened to imbed themselves 
Deep in the dark profound, converging there 
Into a liquid waste, and pendant bulk 
Of latitude incalculate, — and girt 
With longitude immeasurably great : 
Its nucleus Hell, — which thus environ'd gave 
No chance of flight from ceaseless agony ; 
But whirling round its vortex with a force 
To this deluded horde till then unknown, 
(And which compulsive motion it received 



ORIGIN OF CHAOS. [Canto I. 

From that fierce cataract, while dashing down 

With rage resistless from the streams above 

In eddying fury) kept revolving on 

With swift rotation 'twixt its burning poles ; 

And thus no base nor summit could possess, 

But so became a bottomless abyss 

In which bewilder'd lay the foes of God. 

When thus no hope was left, no single ray 
Of mercy beam'd upon these fallen ones, 
Round with the fierceness of despair they turn'd, 
And charged each other with the guilt of all. — 
First, with an insolence unparallel'd, 
The Prince of Darkness, author of their woe, 
Upbraiding thus address'd their wondVing ears : 
" Lie low, thou base, thou mean and grovling crew. 
And floundering float upon this flaming flood ! 
Fool that I was to trust with such my fate, 
By such support to compromise my fame ! 
Had I had half thy numbers, strung with nerves 
Like to mine own, successful I had been ! 
But ye, vile wretches, seized with sudden fear 
Left me, — upon the very first assault, — 
To bear the brunt of battle on myself." 



Canto I.] FALL OF LUCIFER. 23 

To whom the next to him before his fall, 
And now in kindred misery, exclaim'd : 
" Thou impious, — thou most ungrateful fiend, 
Is't not to thee we owe our present state ? 
We had been happy, but seduced by thee 
To blindly dare thi' astounding wrath of God, 
Are now immersed in everlasting fire. — 
Who could avert an overwhelming fear, 
When his dread voice we heard, (which sounded love 
Before we sinn'd), in mighty thunder roll, 
And doom us to eternal banishment ! 
Whilst we beheld ourselves no longer bright, 
But tainted, — blasted, — and for ever lost ! — 
And dost thou vaunt thyself above us all 
In courage, cursed cowVing coward ? Confess 
Thou wert the first to flee his kindling ire, 
And wing thy wicked way to wards of woe!" 
So spake the fallen angel ; when the rest 
Which lay embedded in the burning lake, 
Sent forth a shriek of such conclusive grief, 
As silenced Satan, and transhVd his soul. — 

While pain and discord raged in hell below, 
Through Heaven floated harmony and joy. 



24 ORIGIN OF CHAOS. [Canto I. 

Encompass'd by the blazing Cherubim, 
On high the great Jehovah held his court, 
Whilst flaming Seraphim in thousands form'd 
A living threshold to the throne of God ; 
And ever and anon sent forth a cry 
Of " Holy, — holy, — holy is the Lord 
God of Sabaoth — now and evermore !" 

Before this shining company arranged, 
With bended knee, the conq'ring angels bow'd, 
Michael in front, — who ere he utter'd aught, 
His face enshrouded with his ample wings ; 
So did they all ; — and then in pious speech 
The Great Archangel thus his God bespoke : 
" King of Eternity, to Thee alone 
Be glory, — honour, — and eternal praise ; 
Satan is vanquish'd, never to insult 
Within these realms thy holy name again ; 
But writhing with his base blaspheming bands, 
Engulph'd lies buried in unyielding flames, 
Their just award ; — would that their rapid fall 
Had been as harmless to expanse without, 
As to thy power and these high domains ; 
For yonder waters — which ere yet they formed 



Canto I.] FALL OF LUCIFER. 25 

A jail for traitors 'gainst thy sacred laws, 
Ne'er suffer'd taint or ruffle to pollute 
Their placid countenance, but glided on 
Silent and pure — now hang in space, a bed 
Of black impurity, groaning at heart 
With nausea from the filth with which they teem. 
The offspring of the felon's blasphemies 
As hurling down to hell ; — within their womb 
The unquench'd lake is centred, which anon 
Forces them upwards as they raging boil, 
And bubbling billows form, which bursting belch 
Dense and offensive steam ; while roaring winds 
Sweep o'er their waves with unrestricted howl 
And aid confusion. — Thus indeed 'tis well 
That sin and tumult can attain no seat 
Within thy kingdom, or approach its walls, 
Or else the fiend had been avenged, and left 
But little praise for having cast him hence. 
So we have triumph'd Lord, alone in Thee, 
For none but Thou art great, the only God." 

Thus Michael ended,— when a still small voice 
Of softest harmony was heard exclaim, 
" Well done thou good and faithful servant ! come 



26 ORlCxIN OF CHAOS. [Canto I. 

Enter the joy of thy approving Lord." 

But next the sound began upon the air 

To swell, although it still had melody, 

And said, " I am the Lord, the Lord of Hosts, 

" The first and last ; — the true and only God." 

Then like a thunderclap outbursting shook 

The staid foundations e'en of Heav'n itself; 

" Vengeance, — eternal vengeance be on those 

Who dare my holy spirit to blaspheme, 

For gnashing teeth, and grief, and darkling chains, 

And tears shall be the portion of the damn'd." 

The word had ceased, — but breaking forth again 
In accents mild its oracles resumed ; 
" Hear this my faithful ones, and shout for joy, 
Satan shall never so obtain revenge, 
For noisy Chaos, which to him owes birth, 
No longer shall an useless mass remain 
Of crude defilement, an unsightly spot 
To my pure vision ; and offensive doubt 
Of my controlment o'er immensity. 
The black and fulsome deep, which in its womb 
With sick'ning throes conceives corroding mire. 
My powV shall cause from opt its pregnant breast 



Canto I.] FALL OF LUCIFER. 27 

To yield an universe of glowing spheres 
Lit by mine eye, which through profundity 
Shall blaze with light unquenchable, and add 
New territory to my boundless rule. — 
One spot alone, in outward semblance pure, 
But inwardly inhabited by sin, 
Shall be the scene of trouble and despair. 
This shall be call'd the World ; upon its orb, 
Satan let loose, shall for awhile prevail, 
Apparently against my holy will ; 
For beings form'd in likeness of myself, 
Seduced by him, will disobey my laws, 
And thus defile the image of their God : 
This new pollution shall his pangs increase 
An hundred-fold ; as such shall be my love 
For that lost world, that I descending hence, 
Will by salvation most mysterious 
Its creatures ransom from eternal woe : 
That all who will repent may not be lost, 
But rise from death to everlasting life, 
And shine the brighter since redeem"^ by me : 
But those who shall reject my saving grace, 
Shall burn to all eternity in Hell, 
And goad the torments of their tempter's soul. 



28 ORIGIN OF CHAOS. [Canto I. 

Thus will I do, — for Satan shall perceive 
That his ingratitude has forged a crown 
Of infamy for his infernal brow, — 
But woven an unfading diadem 
Of greater glory for his mighty Lord." — 

So spake the Godhead ; — like a flash of light, 
All angel countenances were unveiFd ; 
Up flew their wings above their heads, and clapp'd 
Louder than thunder through the vaulted air, 
Whilst with a shout that made all Heaven resound, 
And echo'd with transporting melody, 
They cried " Hosannah to the God of Life, 
Who reigns omnipotent for evermore. r> 



END OF CANTO I. 



NOTES. 



[I think it requisite, in commencing these notes, to inform my readers that they must 
expect to find no quotations but from Scripture, nor any arguments extracted from the 
works of other authors to give additional force to my own. This circumstance, be it 
understood, does not proceed from an arrogant supposition that such are unnecessary, but 
were I to pursue a different course, they would swell the work beyond its intended limits.] 



CANTO I. 

Page 13, line I. 
Oh thou Eternal Being / 

It may be as well to open with a few observations upon the principal 
and most fruitful subject of infidelity, viz* the eternity of God's nature. 
By eternity we understand, that which has neither beginning nor end. 
Sceptics say, how is it possible for any being to have no origin : this 
proceeds from their judging of God as they would of a mortal. 

To cavillers of such description I will put a question : If God had 
an origin, by whom or what means was it caused ; and if they can 
find any being or means through whom or which it commenced, then 
who or what brought that being or cause into existence ; and where, 
again, are the parent or parents of these to be sought, and so on 
ad infinitum. The fact is, it appears much easier to believe in the 



30 NOTES TO CANTO I. 

eternity of God's nature, than in this eternity of origins. Moreover, 
I am prepared to shew, that all things, strictly speaking, are in a 
measure eternal. Reader, methinks you will start and say, why this 
world had a beginning, and it is to have an end ; granted, but then 
remember, that beginning refers to it only as a world, as also does its 
final doom. 

We all, upon seeing the spark struck by the flint from steel, 
would say, that is the commencement of the spark, which will soon 
produce the flame ; but let it be remembered, that the exciting 
cause was in the flint and steel previous to their being brought in 
contact ; that before they assumed their present form they were in the 
bowels of the earth ; that before the earth was made, they were a 
portion of chaos ; that before chaos was (if it had a beginning, as I 
cannot but suppose), then in some way or other they were ingrafted 
with the exciting cause of chaos, and so on to infinity. Thus T may 
answer the first objection of the reader by stating, that the component 
parts of the world were in chaos, and by analogy the component parts 
of chaos in something else, and so on ; and when the final doom 
comes, my belief is, that the earth will then be mixed up and become 
a component part of hell, which we are led to believe will never pass 
away, and thus the ingredients, although not the world itself in its 
present form, will have had no origin and have no end. 

To exemplify this kind of argument still more, there are many che- 
mical preparations of a liquid kind, which, when united, deposit a 
substance. This is the commencement of the substance, but its ingre- 
dients were before concealed in the liquids, and before that, in what- 
ever was necessary to put together to form those liquids, and so on. 
The same argument applies to our own bodies. Their composition 
is earth, which I have already endeavoured to prove has been essen- 
tially eternal. They will return to earth. We believe they are to rise 
again, either to enjoy everlasting happiness or misery, and thus they 
are relatively eternal. 



NOTES TO CANTO I. 31 

And now to return to the principal object of this note. God I con- 
sider to be the only being- that has existed eternally in his present 
state ; who has never assumed any other shape ; has never been mixed 
up with any thing-, but who is the originating- source of all things ; not 
only so, but T am fully persuaded, that if it were possible for the 
existence of the Almighty to be suspended only for a single moment, 
instant annihilation to all would be the consequence ; and therefore, 
he is not only the primary, but supporting cause of every thing. God 
is life, and nothing can exist without him. 

As to the doctrine of chance, that is clear absurdity. Those things 
which in one age are supposed thus to originate, are discovered in 
another to have an exciting cause. I do contend there is no such 
thing as chance, not even at the gambler's table. 

Thus to the sceptic I say, that if the belief in the eternity of God's 
nature is absurd,, his is still more so, as I contend that every thing 
must have been somewhere or other eternally, although not in its pre- 
sent shape. And thus it is evident, that if God is the creator of all 
things, he could not have been so without having known the peculiar 
properties of materialism, immaterial? sm, space, and infinitude, and 
this could only appertain to a Being who had been acquainted with 
them from all eternity, for boundless wisdom can alone been united 
with eternal life ; if it were not so, men would long ere this have dis- 
covered the philosopher 1 s sto ne ; have created living objects \ and per- 
formed various other wonders, as they would be on a par with their 
own Maker, he only being the creature of time; thus, let it be observed 
into what a labyrinth the infidel plunges ! With Atheists I argue not, 
since I never knew any but were in all things weak-minded. Indeed, 
I could relate many acts of folly in one who lately disgusted a whole 
court of law, and who has since been carried off in a most awful man- 
ner ; he was found dead in his bed a short time ago, without any 
apparent cause. He is noAv convinced of the existence of that Beins 
who, in the plenitude of his paltry judgment, was non-existent, 

D 



32 NOTES TO CANTO I. 

In concluding this note, I beg to refer the reader onwards, as he 
will frequently find recurrences to this all-important doctrine of the 
eternity of God's nature ; a doctrine of such vital importance, that 
Avithout it, we might as well disbelieve our own existence. 



Page 13, line 3. 
— Thou triple form of mystery ! 
I think it necessary to explain this exclamation, on account of the 
apparent inconsistency that would otherwise be manifest, when I en- 
deavour to remove the difficulty relating to the Holy Trinity in the 
second Canto, and the notes referring thereto. I mean, therefore, by 
the above extracted words, not the mysterious compact of Father, 
Son, and Holy Ghost in one God, so much as the wonderful union of 
mind, body, and soul, and which was almost equally curious in man 
when formed in the likeness of his Maker ; but more on this point 
anon. 



Page 13, line 13. 

Lucifer, 
In Heaven before his fall the next to Thee. 
This, I believe, is the general idea respecting the Devil, previous to 
his rebellion. 



Page 14, line 4. 

To float upon a foaming flood of flames, 

The overflowings of thy kindled wrath. 

I cannot help stating here, in observation, my wonder at various 

poets and other writers having mentioned hell as a place which was 

in being previous to the fall of the angels. Where was the necessity, 

I would ask, for a hell before there were culprits to fill it ; or is it 



NOTES TO CANTO I. 33 

likely a God of Love, although well knowing what was to happen, 
should have been preparing for eternal ages a lake of fire, for crea- 
tures who had not yet sinned, and many of whom had not been called 
into existence? And is it not probable that this first, and just out- 
bursting of God's wrath, would be attended by extraordinary phe- 
nomena ? I say, Jirst, since be it remembered the Almighty is not like a 
frail mortal, who on every capricious occasion bursts into rage, without 
any cause, perhaps, but his own wayward temper. Anger, I dare 
assert, had never crossed that placid brow, until ingratitude aroused the 
indignation even of love itself ; for the purest affection when reversed 
becomes the purest hatred. Thus it is probable, I submit, that the 
first outpourings of God's vengeance became the living fire which still 
surrounds the sinful : and what can be worse than for ever to be en- 
vironed by the burning wrath of God ! 



Page 14, line 11. 

Who first committed sin ? — and ivhat the crime t 
And where the pretext for so foul a deed? 
Lucifer, and ingratitude ; but none 
TJie pretext, saving vanity and pride, 
Is all the answer to the querist giv'n. 

Here again let me remark, that it is extraordinary so many authors 
should have fallen into the error, that the crime which caused the 
destruction of Satan's happiness was pride. Now pride of itself is 
no sin, but it is often the cause. If it is inherently bad, why should 
such expressions as these be made use of : "a generous pride," a 
noble pride," &c. ? Had Lucifer been of a grateful disposition, his 
pride would have been in every possible way to prove his attachment 
to his God ; but on the contrary, hi3 only pretext, even with himself 
or with his followers (as I have imagined), was his vanity and pride, 

d2 



34 NOTES TO CANTO T. 

which, unchecked by restraining affection, led him on to his own 
ruin ; an influence which, I am sorry to observe, causes more than 
half the infidelity of the present day. 



Page 15, line 20. 
All these F 11 give you, if ye falling down 
Will worship me, and own no other Lord. 
The same arrogant assumption as that by which the devil endea- 
voured to tempt our Saviour. 



Page 16, line 4. 
' Tis I that govern ; I am your control; 
Upon this line much of the importance of the Poem is intended to 
turn. 

The reader is aware, I have no doubt, of the various opinions which 
have been at different times promulgated, with regard to the unpar- 
donable sin spoken of by our Saviour in the following text : 

" But he that shall blaspheme against the Holy Ghost hath never forgiveness, but is In 
" danger of eternal damnation."— Mark nL29. 

I agree with the general idea, that it must be either the taking from 
or adding irreverently to the attributes of the Holy Ghost. Thus in 
the foregoing line Lucifer asserts that he controls eternity, being rank 
blasphemy, as no being having an origin could do so ; he therefore 
ascribes to himself that power, which alone belonged to the Eternal 
Spirit ; and which precise crime was afterwards committed (no doubt 
at the instigation of the devil) in the time of Christ : viz. 

" He hath Beelzebub, and by the prince of the devils casteth he out devils."— Mark iii. 22. 
and which called forth his anathema, as in the text above. Besides, 
by this supposition it is accounted for why the fallen angels never will 
be pardoned, as we have every reason to believe : whereas, man's fall 



NOTES TO CANTO I. 35 

was caused by disobedience, not a wilful misrepresentation of the Holy 
Spirit, or ascribing to himself powers, which could belong to none but 
God. 



Page 16, line 13. 

" — yourselves direct, 
Scorning the folly of a steadfast reign, 
No longer truckle to tyrannic sivay ; 
Let your own wishes your oivn conduct guide, 
Elect your Prince, renouncing him that divells 
Amid the Cherub and Seraphic host." 

It is a remarkable fact, that all rebels endeavour to persuade their 
supporters of the uselessness of a fixed monarchy, assuring them that 
they are quite competent to govern themselves, with perhaps only a 
chief or chiefs, elected by and from among themselves, as a leader or 
leaders in any emergency ; and that a king by right or title is an ab- 
surdity. This is the real and undisguised doctrine of republicanism. 
To the irreligious of this sect (and there are very few otherwise) I can 
say nothing to convince ; but of those who still have some portion of 
belief left, let me ask, whether they must not acknowledge that the 
monarchical form of government is best, particularly when they con- 
sider that heaven, the universe, in a word, eternity, has but one supreme 
ruler ? And is not this for the happiness of all ? Look at the Hindoo 
religion, for example, where there are many gods; and what is the 
consequence ? The poor fanatic is constantly obliged to perform some 
penance to appease the wrath of one deity, which has been aroused 
against him for practising an act of worship to another, and which 
is not according to his fancy or pleasure. Thus I have represented 
Lucifer throwing out, as a bait, freedom from all restraint, in order 
only to tyrannize the more afterwards, when his victims were in his 
power ; and which, I think, every Divine will allow he has done up to 



36 NOTES TO CANTO I. 

the present moment : a mode of acting which rebels and revolutionists 
have followed. I can imagine some will consider these observations 
out of place here ; but I contend that no nation can be governed well 
unless governed religiously ; witness the Jews, who never flourished 
but under pious kings. I therefore submit these remarks are not 
misplaced ; as the welfare of our fellow men, either in this or the next 
world, can never be extraneous even in the most religious works. 



Page 16, line 21. 
Millions boiv^d down, and blasphemously cried, 
" Hail Lucifer/ all hail / for thou alone 
Art Heaven's ruler, and our only king /" 

Here the unpardonable sin is committed by the rest of the angels' 
who fell. 

" For by thy words thou shalt be justified, and by thy words thou shalt be condemned." — 
Mat. xii. 37. 



Page 17, line 7- 

" Thou fiend! 
For such thou art, as enemy to God."" 
Then turning to the prostrate throng, he cried, 
" Arise besotted dupes, — arise, — behold 
Your new-created Monarch, and despair." 

The word fiend means an enemy. Thus Michael, in applying such 
an epithet to Lucifer (and which may be considered, at this period of 
the Poem, perfectly new in heaven), is represented as causing, in great 
measure, the sudden and dreadful change which followed ; for imme- 
diately addressing the faithless ones, he desires them to rise and 
despair ; and then follows their horror at perceiving their own and 
Lucifer's complete transformation. 



NOTES TO CANTO I. 37 

Page 17, line 20. 
For, from amid the Cherubim a sound 
More dread than thunder struck their shrinking ears. 
The reader will observe throughout this poem, that not once is the 
rash attempt made of describing the form of God. To describe in 
imagination his voice, I trust is allowable ; men at various periods have 
been permitted to hear Jehovah, but never to see his person. 
" No man hath seen God at any time."— 1 John iv. 12. 



Page 18, line 5. 

A briny tear shall from your streaming eyes 

With sharpened anguish sting your scorching tongue. 

It is submitted, that nothing could enhance the torture of extreme 
thirst more than an occasional and very small drop of water falling 
upon the tongue, and that drop impregnated with brine. 



Page 18, line 7. 
Satan (for that shall henceforth be thy name 
Oh Lucifer J, a coat of mail shall swathe 
Thy noisome form with everlasting bands, 
That ever as thou leav'st the burning gulph, 
Upon thy wicked embassies of crime, 
A red-hot case may thus enclose thy soul, 
And grant no respite from the pangs of hell. 
Here the devil first receives his name of Satan from God, which 
signifies an adversary, since before he had proved his enmity to 
Jehovah, he was Lucifer, viz. the bright. It is also remarkable so 
many authors, both poetical and prose, agree in representing Satan as 
clad with a scaly coat, and yet few have assigned any reason for such 



38 NOTES TO CANTO I. 

an envelopment, and that few seem rather to consider it as an honour 
and advantage to the Wicked One, than a disgrace or cause of 
misery : thus, although it is after all but ideal, I think if Satan be so 
clothed, either spiritually or actually, it is more reasonable to suppose 
it is for the object of punishment, than the purpose of protection. 



Page 18, line 22. 

Wlien the chaste flooring, which no longer bore 

TN accumulating weight of sin gave way 

Beneath their feet, and headlong doivn they dasKd 

Precipitate ; — 
I think the supposition that the devils were only expelled from 
heaven by exerting the greatest force, is very erroneous ; since thus it 
would appear probable, that some time or other the tables might be 
reversed, and they in their turn becoming the victors, would regain 
their former seats and drive out the holy ones : whereas, by repre- 
senting that such is the purity of God's kingdom, that the mere cir- 
cumstance of a creature being sinful renders it impossible for him to 
keep his footing there, places the question beyond a doubt. This false 
idea has originated from the following text : 

•* And there was war in heaven : Michael and his angels fought against the dragon ; and 
" the dragon fought and his angels, and prevailed not ; neither was their place found any 
" more in heaven."— Rev. xii. 7. 8. 

Our leading poet has founded his representation of the fall of 
Lucifer upon the above, not considering that John's vision consisted 
of that which was to take place, not that which had already happened : 
besides, I believe all admit the revelations to be principally allego- 
rical : not so can the following be construed ; 

" I beheld Satan as lightning, fall from heaven." — Luke x. 18. 
nor any of the other texts which follow as mottos for the Canto to 
which these notes refer. 



NOTES TO CANTO I. 39 

Page 20, line 12, 

Urged on in downward course, at last they found 
The unfixed centre of infinitude ; 

This passage requires some explanation, since at the first glance it 
appears paradoxical. An unfixed centre must, to the generality of 
readers, seem absurd. Now infinitude, although unlimited in extent, 
can have no other form than a sperical one ; for were it to partake of 
a polygonal conformation, or any other shape, its equality in all 
directions must necessarily he destroyed, a property which is its very 
existence. Every sphere has a centre («". e. a point within it which is 
equidistant from the circumference). And yet how is this point to be 
determined in infinity, when there is no circumscribing boundary to 
define it? Thus, although there is no fixed, there must be a regulating 
medium upon which all things turn, and by which every thing is kept 
in its relative position. This point can be known only to the un- 
bounded wisdom, and depends entirely upon the omnipotent will of 
God, and therefore, as far as we know, is an unfixed centre. 



Page 20, line 14. 

And there concentrating, a flaming sea, 
Their frighted souls awaited, — 

These lines more fully exemplify the preceding ones ; since, had 
there been no centre to infinitude, no point at which the devils in 
their fall must of necessity stop, they would have been travelling on to 
all eternity towards hell, and yet never reaching it. On the contrary, 
we have every reason to believe, they have inhabited that abode of 
grief for ages ; and this could only be caused by the burning lake 
concentrating somewhere or other. This idea explains what is meant 
by the bottomless pit. Thus hell must also be of a sperical shape, 
having no bottom, and consequently no top ; for we all know that a 



40 NOTES TO CANTO I. 

single revolution of a sphere would at once reverse the position of 
each, did they even exist. Thus, I believe, condemned spirits are 
constantly being drawn by attraction (when attempting escape) towards 
the centre of hell, the hottest part. 



Page 24, line 6. 
Holy, holy, holy is the Lord 
God of Sabaoth, — now and evermore! 
Sabaoth means the army, and not as some suppose the Sabbath. 



Page 27, line 15. 

as such shall be my love 
For that lost ivorld, that I descending hence, 
Will by salvation most mysterious 
Its creatures ransom from eternal woe. 

Various have been the speculations upon this point, whether it was 
God himself or merely a direct emanation from him, or only an angel 
that descended to save the world. I cannot help giving the first my 
entire support. In the above lines it must be remembered, that the 
voice or word of God is declaring his intention of saving the future 
world when in a state of sin. The following texts are authorities for 
this declaration : 
" In the beginning was the word, and the word was with God, and the word was God." — 
" And the word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, and we beheld his glory, the glory 
" as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth."— John i. 1, 14. 

Thus it is evident that the word (the nature of which is more fully 
exemplified in my notes on the Trinity) was to all intents and purposes 
God, and the same who came down to earth in order to save the world. 
And is there any thing in this contrary to the divine character, or 
derogatory from its dignity? The Omnipotent and Omnific de- 



NOTES TO CANTO I. 41 

scended from his everlastingly glorious abode to create ; and is it not 
equally probable that the All-Sufficient and All-Merciful would 
do the like, in order to rescue those from destruction which he had 
so created ? Thus men ought to be bound by the double tie of love 
and gratitude to their Maker ; love for their temporal benefits, and 
gratitude for their spiritual ones. 



Page 28, line 12. 
" Hosannah to the God of Life, 
Who reigns omnipotent for evermore." 
No species of scepticism is so perfectly absurd and triumphant in 
folly, as that of the Materialist ; a belief which has its foundation 
in ignorance, and its arguments of support in mental blindness. 
Indeed, to such a height has this sort of creed attained, that a work 
has very lately appeared, written by one who would have been least 
expected, it was supposed, of attempting so difficult a subject ; one 
who, it must be conceded, has been long celebrated among the un- 
learned and vulgar, for his exertions relative to a Cordial Spirit, 
and therefore is now desirous of becoming equally eminent among 
the literati and polite circles for his development of a material 



This writer, as most of his predecessors in blundering, professes 
to found his argument upon the revealed Scriptures, and actually 
asserts, that there is no single passage throughout the Bible which 
supports the doctrine that man possesses an immaterial soul, which, 
upon the dissolution of his body, will exist apart and totally distinct 
from that body, either in happiness or misery, until the final judg- 
ment, when they will reunite ; but, on the contrary, that revelation 
is entirely confirmatory of the belief in materiality; and in fact, 
that we have no certain existence but the present, with a doubtful 
chance of a future. 



42 NOTES TO CANTO I. 

I can readily imagine how the true believer must be absolutely con- 
founded at such an undaunted declaration ; but, reader, it is easily 
explained by informing you, that the speculating author takes care 
not to touch upon numerous texts which are against him, whilst those 
which he does extract he mangles, either by giving a wrong translation 
to a word or two, or sometimes by perverting the whole meaning of 
a sentence, which he informs the public is the correct rendering, and 
then founds his fragile arguments thereon. 

It is my intention, at some future time, to write a work in support of 
immaterialism founded upon scriptural evidence, and in which T 
hope to succeed in prostrating his and his coadjutors' theory. But 
that it may appear that I am even now prepared to defend this vital 
doctrine to the welfare of the immortal soul, I shall, whenever it is 
necessary, introduce in my notes to this poem remarks upon so 
highly important a subject, and which is intimately connected with the 
above extracted lines. 

" The God of life" (i. e. the God of existence). 

Now the existence or life of the man is his spirit or soul, which 
is an immaterial or aerial essence, in close and intimate connection 
with his body ; let it be remembered, that immateriality does not, as 
the materialist would fain represent, mean non-entity, but that which 
cannot be seen by a mortal eye, or discovered by a mortal touch. 
And thus, although having no substance such as we infer by the 
term solid, yet has its component parts, which are perfectly tangible 
and perceptible to immortal beings. What, exclaims the self-suffi- 
cient sceptic, is there any thing in that man that I cannot handle, 
and that I cannot see? Yes, I would answer; and to prove that you 
are not the infallible being you imagine, be kind enough to tell 
me by the powers of your unassisted vision, what the myriads 
of creatures are about in yonder drop of water, or reach me a 
handful of air. The controversy perchance would not end here, 
but proceed after this manner. Sceptic. "Well, but I have a glass 



NOTES TO CANTO I. 43 

by which I can perceive the insect tribe which inhabit the water, and a 
receiver in which I will bring you imprisoned air." — " Very possible ; 
and I will, upon your so doing, probably furnish you with a more 
powerful lens, which will discover others as yet unseen by you, and 
so on one after another, until you are forced to admit with the 
wisest men, that there is still that beyond which Avill never be seen 
by you in this life ; and as to the other experiment, only exhaust the 
receiver, and fill it, if you can, with the identical air you have allowed to 
escape ; if you do this, Solomon's wisdom will sink into insignificance 
when compared with yours." Now to return to the main argument. 

The great fault of Immaterialists, and which they have in common 
with their opponents (to use homely but most expressive words) is 
their not " beginning at the beginning," by commencing with God 
instead of man : " God is a Spirit," was the declaration of our 
Redeemer, and which is fully corroborated by the following : 

" Whither shall I go from thy spirit ? or whither shall I flee from thy presence ? 

" If I ascend up into heaven, thou art there : if I make my bed in hell, behold, thou 
art there. 

" If I take the wings of the morning, and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea : even 
there shall thy hand lead me, and thy right hand shall hold me."— Psalm cxxxix. 7—10. 

If the Omnipresent were not of a spiritual conformation (i. e. of an 
aerial and yielding texture), how could he thus fill infinitude and 
leave room for the innumerable created objects which exist? but the 
fact is He is infinity and eternity, and thus exemplifies the text : 

" He be not far from every one of us, for in him we live, and move, and have our being." 
—Acts xvii. 27, 28. 

Observe in him, not by him ; and whatever may be the opinions 
of some that such texts ought not to be taken in a literal sense, I con- 
tend such is the perfection of the Scriptures, that all sentences are 
intended to be construed actually as well as spiritually, in order that 
they may be as intelligible to the illiterate as the learned. 

If then God is a spirit, it is proved that such an essence not only 
can be, but is in existence (and I have never yet met with the sceptic 



44 NOTES TO CANTO I. 

who is hardy or daring enough to deny this attribute of the Deity) ; 
and surely it is quite reasonable to suppose that man, who at the 
creation received his life, and powers of breathing, and mind, direct 
from God himself, would partake of the same quality. 

Besides, the following text is an absurdity if the soul of man be not 
immaterial in its composition ; viz. 

" God is a spirit : and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth." — 
John iv. 24. 

This evidently shows that the reason why mere outward form and 
verbal worship is not acceptable to God, is from his being a spirit, 
and therefore requiring a spirit to worship him ; this text also explains 
why God is acquainted with the secret thoughts of men, viz. through 
spiritual medium, for had they only bodies without a separate and 
distinct soul, they must give utterance to those thoughts ere Divinity 
could know them. 

It is impossible here to enter into this subject, as it ought to be, by 
going classically and scientifically to work : such must form the 
object of a separate treatise ; but I shall content myself with, as often 
as possible, referring to it in my notes by short and concise observa- 
tions, trusting to a future and complete triumph over the poor matter- 
of-fact matkrialist, concluding thus : 

" He that is of the earth is earthly, and speaketh of the earth."— John iii, 31 ; 
and therefore in the language of St. Paul, is no competent judge 
concerning spirituality : 

" For the things which are seen are temporal, but the things which are not seen are 
eternal."— 2 Cob. iv. 18. 



CANTO II. 



" In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. 

" And the earth was without form and void ; and darkness was upon the face of the deep : 
and the spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters. 

" And God said let there be light : and there was light. 

" And God saw the light that it was good : and God divided the light from the darkness : 

" And God called the light day, and the darkness he called night. And the evening and 
the morning were the first day."— Gen. i. 1 to 5. 



ARGUMENT, 



Ere the astonishment and shouts of the Angels have ceased, the 

Trinity descends for the purpose of creation. — Exemplification of 

the Triune God — Jehovah, disgusted with its impurity, hovers o'er 

tumultuous Chaos, — The Deity moves on the waters. — The vrinds rush 

in terror from their God, hut are gathered in the hollow of his hand. 

— Darkness pervades the deep, and the earth is without form. — God 

commands peace, and all is quieted.— Hell's increased torment. — The 

Omnipotent commands light to appear, which springs forth from his 

own eye-hall, and forms around him an orb of fire. — The Creator 

(while Chaos is revolving beneath), addresses Light, instructing it 

how to fulfil his intentions with regard to the future world, viz. to 

inhabit and cherish every thing while man is in a state of innocence. — 

Upon his disobeying the commands of God, to become his reprover 

and chastiser; although Satan is the cause of sorrow. Yet still to 

be often a source of great happiness, more especially by presenting 

to his notice a Saviour. — Light, being charged with the knowledge 

of God's will, is blessed and pronounced by him to be good, 

receiving its proper name. — The Creator next bespeaks darkness to 

bless man before he sins. — But afterwards to become a scourge, as 

Satan's chosen period. — Yet there shall a time come, when darkness 

will again be full of happiness to man, when the Saviour dying 

shall redeem him.— The evening and the morning (being explained) 

form the first day. 



CANTO SECOND. 



®be ttmtton* 

Scarce had the joyful shout which rent the air 
With rapture, softei^d to adoring song, 
And pious breathings of harmonious praise 
Replaced extatic wonder, when the God 
Of Truth descended from his holy throne ; 
Through broad expanse a wondrous Trinity ! 
The Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, triune ! 
The co-eterne — the uncreated. Three, 
Of Majesty co-equal, — yet distinct : 
Three powers of the Deity declared ! 
The first the Father, — the all-perfect Mind, 
Whose vast conception had foundation laid 
Of future grandeur to his hallow 'd name ; 
The next the Son, — the all-efficient Word, 
The acting voice, — encompass^ by a form 



50 THE CREATION. [Canto II. 

Of life supreme, begotten by the Mind 
To utter the commands of inward thought, 
And give completion to his grand ideas ; 
The third the Holy Ghost, — immortal Soul, 
Proceeding essence of the other two, — 
The Godhead's Being of Eternity. 
These three in compact mystery, composed 
One great Omnipotent, as down through space 
He journey 'd, hast'ning to perform his work 
Of new creation and astounding might, 
And triumph o'er Satanic treachery. 

And now the Spirit of Jehovah sat 
Midway 'twixt heaven and chaotic gloom 
Brooding o'er tumult, whilst his spotless soul 
Yearn'd with disgust at the foul gulph below, 
Which from its fulsome breast ejected smoke 
And pois'nous vapour ; on its ruffled face 
Floated huge clots of putrifying scum, 
Forced to its surface by the flames within — 
Hell's unrelenting furnace ; and anon 
Wailings and shrieks from the abode of grief 
Came gurgling up, and bursting into air 
Mix'd with the blasts, which o'er the roaring deep 



Canto II.] FIRST DAY. 51 

Swept howling, dashing to and fro the foam 

Of uproar, — when sudd'nly the Deity 

Dropp'd on the waters, and their waves compress'd : 

They conscious, felt the Great Eternal move 

On their heaving bosom, and struck with awe, 

No longer toss'd their billows, daring scarce 

In rippling murmur to declare their woe. 

Then did the winds precipitately rush 
In shrieking terror to the farthest realms 
And blackest verge of Chaos, there in fear 
With breathless tremor waiting to receive 
The high behests of One, who even they 
Dared not to disregard, but whose command 
Was law perpetual. Nor did they long 
Remain distrustful of their destiny, 
For God their monarch, stretching out his hand, 
Gather'd them up, and in his hollow palm 
Confined their fury with unyielding grasp, 
Until his wisdom gave them liberty. 

Still all was dark, no single ray of light 
(Save when the Devil fell, and then impure 

H 

And quickly vanishing) had ever gleanTd 
e % 



52 THE CREATION. [Canto II. 

For long eternity athwart the spread 

Of that proportion of infinitude 

Beneath the base of heaven ; there had gloom 

Been ever station'd, since the flames of hell 

Which now had render'd darkness visible, 

Blazed in obscurity and far removed 

From the domains of bliss, the wat'ry gulph 

Forming a barrier of steadfast bounds 

Betwixt the faithful and the faithless ones. 

Thus had the earth in the beginning ta'en 
No form or substance, in the groaning womb 
Of the black waters gender'd, and with them 
Commix'd and one in discord and misrule : 
When with a voice which, though melodious, pierced 
The murky deep with vibratory powV, 
God said, " Peace thou, for lo ! thy Lord hath heard 
Thine anguish, and descends to purify 
Thy once pure element ! Peace then, for thou 
Shalt in thy breast maternal generate 
A noble universe, convoked by me 
Out of thy bowels, as another proof 
Of my Almighty rule o'er those who thus 
Have robb'd thee of thy quiet. Peace then, peace !" 



Canto II.] FIRST DAY. 53 

So spake the Lord, and all discordant sound 
Ceased in expanse, and concord reign'd anew. 

Hell felt the change ; for from its loathsome gorge 
No longer blasphemies could vomit forth, 
And through the gulph which pressed upon its mouth 
Make bubbling exit to the upper air ; 
But in its stifling throat confined the yells 
And curses of its inmates, till at last 
Perdition's very jaws were choak'd with crime, 
Thus rendering the burning lake in heat 
Still more oppressive, since th' ascending smoke 
And vapour from its boiling lava found 
No egress, but above its surface hung 
A mantling canopy of dark despair 
Crown' d by the liquid waste, which hugged it round 
With lifeless gravity until by God 
Refined, resuscitated, and reform'd. 

And now Jehovah, rising to the height 
Where first he hover'd, with creative voice, 
Which echo'd through infinity, exclaim'd, 
" Let there be light !" and at the joyous sound, 
Straight from the eyeball of Omnipotence 



54 THE CREATION. [Canto II. 

The lambent fluid, darting through expanse, 

Fled o'er the silent waters and illumed 

Their tarnish'd countenance, with searching blaze 

E'en to the very centre of the deep, 

In penetrating passage, making way, 

Exposing the contents, as on it pass'd, 

"With all their gross deformity of sin : 

Nor thus contented ; — but around its God 

Conglobing form'd a burning orb of fire, 

That so no strength of brightness it might lack, 

But feed its beamings from the purest source. 

Then did the Deity with parent's care 
This new inhabitant of lower space 
(As round the huge chaotic mass moved on 
With revolutionary path below, 
And which strange action it had still retain'd 
As first compelFd by torrents from above), 
In terms admonitory thus address : 

" Thou offspring of the apple of mine eye, 
Thou first bright proof in this abode of gloom 
Of my unchanging glory, list awhile 
To words paternal from thy God, and then 



Canto II.] FIRST DAY. 55 

In pious audience and submission, yield 
Obedience to my almighty will. 

" Go forth, divinest essence of myself, 
And be the future principle of life ; 
All things inhabit ; destitute of thee 
Nought shall survive, nought flourish or rejoice 
'Mongst those created forms which ere six rounds 
Of thy refulgence shall have rolFd away, 
Shall glow with new vitality in space, 
And add fresh honour to my sacred name. 
My works declare ; with thy celestial flame 
Adorn the heavens and enrich the earth. 
By thy assistance let their beauties shine, 
And glad the eye of Nature ; in thy beams 
Beyond all other creatures will exult 
Man, who, partaking my similitude, 
Shall rule by right vicegerent o'er the rest : — 
For as with ken intelligent he views 
Surrounding objects by thy presence shown, 
His heart while innocent shall palpitate 
With love and admiration of his God. 
The bird and beast, the reptile and the fish, 
The sportive insect in thy glancing ray, 



56 THE CREATION. [Canto IT, 

The branching tree, the humble blade of grass, 
The blooming flower and the bloomless shrub, 
By thee presented to inquiring sight, 
Shall fill his spirit with adoring praise. 
And when his roving eye reverts above, 
And there beholds thy universal sway, 
His leaping soul shall struggle in his breast, 
To burst the bands which bind it down below ; 
For there to him innumerable lights, 
Surpass'd by none but those around my throne, 
Shall hang self-equipoising o'er his head, 
As brilliant studding in the airy range 
Which thou art destined for a-while to fill. 
By thee directed, he, with outstretch^ hand, 
For meat shall gather herbs and cooling fruits ; 
Thou, his companion, shall his walks attend, 
And guide his footsteps to refreshing streams. 
Nor will he less appreciate thee when 
One of a softer mould than he is cast, 
Before his vision shall present herself, 
Who meetly shapen to become his help, 
May bear him models of himself and her. 
But man shall not alone require support, 
For all that lives, or moves, or being has, 



Canto II.] FIRST DAY. 57 

Shall need thy warmth productive to enforce 
And multiply succession of their kind. 

" These are thine attributes, O light ! Awhile 
The world to sin is strange ; — but soon as man, 
By violation of my wise decree 
For his protection, shall debase himself, 
And thus give birth to desolating Death, 
Then shalt thou be a power to avenge 
The insult offer'd to my broken laws. 
Be thou his dread reprover ; with thy blaze 
Show him his nakedness and worthless plight ! 
In thy o'erpowVing heat big drops of dew 
Shall from his swelfring forehead downwards flow, 
As earth he tills, or prunes the fruitful tree; 
And soon as one with waving grain bedeck'd, 
With plenty promises reward for toil, 
Or when the other with o'erburthen'd branch 
Extends its fulness to his gladden'd gaze, 
Wilt thou in lightning oftentimes descend, 
To blast the former, and the latter scathe. 
Let thy appearance to the wicked be 
A cause of fear, of terror, and of shame ; 
By thy all-piercing glance discover crime, 



58 THE CREATION. [Canto II, 

And bring the guilty to disgraceful end ; 

In shapes innumerous of death appear, 

And be the scourge of those who once thou blessM ! 

" These sorrows shall no origin receive 
From thy pure essence and untainted flame ; 
When such occur, when thou assume the rod 
Of chastisement for man's impiety, 
(And by such means, induce him to believe 
How needful is repentance for his hope 
Of future pardon and eternal life ; 
Or by afflicting discipline shall bring 
Him humbly kneeling at my gracious shrine 
To ask forgiveness,) Satan will have caused 
The dreadful change thus suddenly produced 
In thee so fraught with happiness before ; 
For time shall come, when the apostate, freed 
By temporary absence from his chains 
Of grief , and darkness in the bed of hell, 
Shall be allow'd to travel to and fro, 
And up and down throughout the spacious globe 
Seeking for vengeance, and to glut himself 
With the destruction of his Maker's works : 
(Vain fool, as though his impotence could hurt 



Canto II.] FIRST DAY. 59 

Aught by his rage unless his God permit,) 
But so 'twill be, that when the fiend abroad 
Shall travel with pollution in his train 
Upon some wily errand thro' the air, 
As oft as he in contact meets thyself, 
So oft wilt thou with indignation flash, 
And fall consuming in a burning stream 
The varied produce of the vicious world, 
To teach mankind the only source from which 
The constant curse of perfidy proceeds. 

" All Nature thus on Sin's account shall groan 
And languish long beneath thy vengeful ire. 
The living thing of earth, or air, shall see 
The herb which offers sustenance and strength 
Wither'd by thee, while thirsty pools shall leave 
Their scaly inmates gasping forth their life ; 
And soon as aught that dies shall by decay 
Or putrefaction be reduced to dust, 
Then let a circling halo round the heap 
Of foul corruption, thy departure prove, 
That all when gazing on the mould'ring mass, 
May be instructed how thou dost pervade 
Each thing while living with thy vital spark 



60 THE CREATION. [Canto II. 

" Ne'erless thou shalt not always be the foe 
Of fallen man, — but an essential friend ; 
By thee his vision shall delight to dwell 
On those of kindred blood, and to his heart 
United by the strongest ties of love, 
Of duty and of heavenly regard, 
Parental, filial, and fraternal gifts, 
Or that affection which shall long ensure 
The propagation of his hardy race — 
My noblest work in this thy new abode ! 
By thy assisting glare his soul shall learn 
To wend repentingly the way of faith ; 
His many doubts shall be removed by thee, 
To render less forlorn his low estate. 
And oft upon an altar by him raised, 
(To celebrate the worship of his God, 
In types and symbols of a purer sort 
Of sacrifice for his impurity,) 
Shall thou appear to consummate the whole, 
Exhaling incense from the offering. 
And oft when perish'd with frigidity 
For want of thy all-potent cherishing, 
And thou art hidden for awhile from him 
Environ'd by benumbing influence, 



Canto II.] FIRST DAY. 61 

How gladly will he dash the secret spark 

From out some substance where thou art conceal'd, 

And by its ardent glow reviving, lose 

The sad remembrance of his former cares, 

And wait contented until thou break forth 

With fresh effulgence on his needy form. 

But of thy benefits' the chief shall be 

The recognition of redeeming grace, 

By thee beheld in human form enclosed, 

That as unto the body are thy beams, 

So to the Spirit also that shall be ; 

Proclaiming mercy and eternal joy 

As substitutes for vengeance and for woe : 

Thus all that's dear or claiming his regard 

Shall by thine aid be manifest to him. 

" So pregnant with the knowledge of my will, 
I now can bless thee, and pronounce thee good ; — 
And let division 'twixt thy active flame 
And slothful darkness be for ever placed, — 
Thy name be Day, — and thus I finish thee. 

" And now thou dark and unsubstantial range 
Of nothingness, which from eternity has filPd 



62 THE CREATION. [Canto IT. 

The deep profundity of space, nor yet 
Hath ever designation known, do thou 
To my desires attend, so thou may^t act 
According to the judgment of thy God ! 
And first, be thou subservient to light, 
Nor ever dare with thine unhallow'd spread 
To check its presence or avert its path ; 
But oft as it advances, thou recede, 
Nor venture to re-occupy again 
Thy frequent haunts, until its beams depart, 
And leave a void befitting only thee. 
Whilst man is virtuous, be thou the time 
Of balmy sleep and sweet composing dreams ; 
Fill his pure soul with visions of myself, 
And bless his eyelids with serenest peace : 
Do thou with stillness earth and air refresh, 
And all that lives, when busy day is past, 
Shall lull'd by thee, in silent calm recline, 
And softly slumber in reposing ease. 

" Thus shalt thou comfort Nature, until man 
Breaks my Commandments ; — then wilt thou become 
His frequent horror and dread enemy ; 
For Satan will thy season choose to roam 



Canto II.] FIRST DAY. 63 

O'er the wide world, and with the shapes of hell, 

And groups of ghastly spectres, will affright 

The spirit of his victim ; then wilt thou 

By that fell fiend be chosen to augment 

His own damnation ; thou will he appoint 

To be the guilty period of blood, 

Of infamy, despondency, and crime ; 

And lead his servants to believe that I 

See not in thee ; — thus will they love thy reign 

Rather than light, discoverer of sin ! 

Let raging tempests in thy season roar, 

And sweep with desolation o'er the earth. 

Beneath thy deadly covert shall be woe, 

And man on man, and beast on beast shall prey ! 



Thus to creation thou wilt be a curse, 
For in thy mantle death shall ever lurk. 

" Yet time shall come when thou wilt e'en preside 
Big with redemption to deluded man ; 
Then shall a Being, having first obey'd 
My perfect law, and sinking 'neath a weight 
Of crime not his, with unexampled love 
Die for humanity, and thus reclaim 
His followers from darkness worse than thine, 



64 THE CREATION. [Canto II. 

The veil of everlasting; misery. 

Be thou call'd Night !" Jehovah then exclaim'd, 

" And by that name distinguish^! from the day."" 

Thus time at first with Evening began, 
When God descended to perform his word 
To faithful angels ; — but as soon as light 
By the Almighty's mandate issued forth, 
Then Morn commenced, and as revolving on, 
Huge Chaos turn'd beneath the vivid rays, 
Which clad Omnipotence with circling vest 
Of his own brightness, form'd a perfect day, 
The first of years, the end of which is known 
To none but Him who thus their being gave. 



END OF CANTO II, 



NOTES 



CANTO II. 

Page 49, line 7. 
The Father, Son, and Holy Ghost triune ! 

Next to the disbelief of any God, there is not perhaps a more fre- 
quent cause of Scepticism, than that of the Trinity : three persons in 
one is considered by many a downright absurdity. 

As I have already observed in my preface, the word persona might 
be as well translated power as person ; and thus I have the double 
difficulty of contending with the Unitarian and the unreflecting 
Trinitarian. 

The latter of these will allow of no modification, no exemplification, 
which may render his belief less obscure, but rather glories in the 
circumstance that he is unable to understand it himself, and that 
every one else is equally bewildered by the hidden doctrine. To sup- 
pose that the intention of revelation is to confuse, rather than instruct, 
is at once to render useless the following command of our Saviour, 

" Search the Scriptures."— John v. 39. 
for what avail would this searching be to any one, if they were no 
wiser afterwards than before : but on the contrary it is evident, that 
where a mortal will only approach the Bible with a proper feeling 
of humility and consciousness of his own incapacity to do any thing 

F 



G6 NOTES TO CANTO II. 

without higher assistance, many divine truths will be rendered easy to 
his mental perception : this is proved by the following words of 
Christ : 

" I thank thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that thou hast hid these things from 
*•' the wise and prudent, and hast revealed them unto habes. 

" And no man knoweth who the Son is, but the Father; and who the Father is but the 
" Son, and he to whom the Son will reveal him."— Luke x. 21, 22. 

I wish I could imagine for a moment, that I was one of the fa- 
voured who had thus the Father revealed by the Son to me ; but I 
can assure the reader I make no such arrogant pretensions ; and am 
only endeavouring to prove, that the doctrine of the Trinity is not so 
utterly contrary to reason as some assert, rather than to promulgate 
my idea respecting it as the only true and correct one. 

To begin then first with the Unitarian ; as he is a professed be- 
liever in the New Testament, I extract the following passage, which 
proves the existence of a Trinity ; viz. 

" There are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost: 
" and these three are one." — 1 John v. 7- 

The Word means ilie Son, as is proved in the text, 

" The Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us." — John i. 14. 
Thus it appears from the declaration of the most enlightened 
of the Apostles, that there are three in heaven who form but one 
God, viz. the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost. And now to pro- 
ceed to an exemplification, if possible, of this tenet of our church. 

Every man is, I consider, a Trinity in himself. He has a body, 
mind, and soul, that is three distinct parts although only one man. 
No Believer, I trust, will for a moment contend that the body 
and mind are one and the same ; since it often occurs that the body is 
completely prostrated, whilst the mind retains its vigour. Again, the 
soul and body are equally distinguishable, from the fact that many 
dreams which can have no connexion with the mind (from the circum- 
stance of their being upon subjects and objects, on which the person, 
perhaps, never for a moment considered), must be induced by the 



NOTES TO CANTO IT. G" 

soul, or else how came they to originate ; and lastly, the soul and 
mind are proved to be different, I apprehend, not only from the above 
cause, but also that when a person is in deep thought or at study his 
brain or seat of his mind is affected ; whilst, should he be thrown into 
temptation, or have any appalling truth brought home to him ; should 
he be discovered in any wicked action or be inclined to do one ; he 
will find the heart affected, and not the head. I am aware that the 
Pathologist would assign reasons for all these effects ; and this 
may do very well with those who can find no other than that an 
increased action of the heart is caused by a sudden rush of blood to it, 
which renders it necessary for a greater exertion to be made to throw 
the same to the extremities : but I will put one simple question, which 
will puzzle the doctrines of Pathology; viz. what makes the heart beat 
at all ? The probable answer appears to me to be this : the action 
of the imprisoned soul endeavouring to escape from its earthly tene- 
ment ; and which is almost proved by the circumstance, that as soon 
as life is fled the heart immediately stops, although the blood long 
after remains warm, and air continues in the lungs ; should any one 
deny the last of these assertions, let him examine this organ after 
death, and if he find no air I have done ; but it is clear that it must 
be so, for if all air left the body on death, the external pressure 
of the atmosphere would crush it : it is respiration therefore that 
ceases, and which is only kept up by the action of the heart. 

Here again I am aware that an objection may be started, on the 
ground that numerous other animals besides man, have hearts which 
by the same process as his, keep up the circulation of the blood, and 
therefore, according to the above idea, they must also have souls. 

The difference I conceive between man and other living creatures 
is, that although both have life, the one is an eternal the other a 
temporal principle, the first being able to exist independent of a body, 
the last only co-existent with it ; the former a direct emanation from 
God himself, the latter, as I hope to illustrate further on, an indirect. 



6S NOTES TO CANTO II. 

Thus, although whilst in the body no difference appears between the 
vitality of man and beast, yet I contend such is to be found to an emi- 
nent degree in the eternity of one and the want of it in the other ; giving 
to the former powers of memory and (in certain degrees) foresight, 
whilst the latter never displays these but in connexion with external 
sense instead of internal. But more on this anon. 

At the creation God said, " let us make man in our own image." 
Now it is evident from this passage, that there must have been either 
three Gods, or three in one God ; if the first, then the Unitarian's 
belief falls to the ground with the Trinitarian's ; if the 1 last, then it 
becomes a matter of consideration how man, who is one person, can 
be like Three in One. I am aware that many contend that the 
above exclamation of the Almighty is improperly translated, whilst 
others say it was the peculiar idiom of the language ; but these are all 
subterfuges to avoid legitimate argument. If people would only en- 
deavour to prove the Bible to be right instead of wrong, we should 
soon have a stop put to infidelity. 

To resume, then. Man was created in the likeness of the triune 
God. First, his body, gifted with the power of articulating words, 
partook the similitude of the Word or Son. Next his mind, whereby 
he invents or matures any plan, became the representative of the 
Father, who our Saviour asserted was the only one who knew every 
thing, viz: 

"But of that day and that hour knoweth no man, no, not the angers which are in 
*' heaven, neither the Son, but the Father."— Mark xiii. 32. 

And lastly, man's soul I consider to be an emanation from the Holy 
Spirit. For, as I have before intimated, at the creation the only ani- 
mal that received life direct from God himself was man, all others 
were merely called into being ; although it will be seen in subsequent 
Cantos and their notes, that I trace all life up to God, and endeavour 
to prove that every thing exists directly or indirectly through him. 

Thus it was that man's soul was immortal, whilst his body was 



NOTES TO CANTO II. G9 

capable <at the will of God) of dying ; the former being an emanation 
from himself, and therefore eternal ; the latter only formed from that 
which had itself been but newly created, and therefore was alike 
capable of change. 

It may be here asked, how was it that man should have had a body 
given him, when before the ascension of our Saviour it is generally 
supposed the Deity was a Spirit, and therefore in this respect huma- 
nity was not the complete image of God, as he had solidity in his 
composition which cannot belong to a Spirit? The answer I conceive 
to be this ; that man was intended to " dress and keep" the ground, 
and therefore it was necessary for him to have solidity for that purpose 
alone ; besides which, had he been entirely immaterial, he would 
have been, from his own nature, always inclined to mount upwards 
instead of remaining upon the earth as was determined ; and which, 
from the mere force of affinity, he is constrained to do, he being only 
a portion of that earth himself. Besides, the Bible only states that he 
was made in the image of God. Now an image is never expected to 
be equal to and exactly the same as the original, or else where would 
be the difference of value between them ; it is enough if on the whole 
there is a general resemblance. From the various visions of Ezekiel, 
Moses, and other prophets, it appeared that the conformation of God 
(and which personification there is no doubt was the second power of 
the Trinity, viz. the Word or Son : for " not that any man hath seen the 
Father," John vi. 46.) was that of a man, only of extraordinary beauty ; 
thus the body of man is formed in the express similitude of the Son, 
and before the fall, I may venture to assert, was a still nearer resem- 
blance. This difference of solidity is now however removed ; since 
the accession of the glorified body of Christ for the redeemed man 
xvill appear hereafter the exact counterpart of his Maker, having not 
only spirit but matter. 

If man is a trinity, no one will surely deny the same attribute to the 
Deity J and now comes the difficulty of arguing with those who allow 



70 NOTES TO CANTO II. 

of no modification nor illustration of this doctrine, but still retain 
the idea, that the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost are three distinct 
persons although onlv one God, and that each has his peculiar powers 
of speech, thought, and action, although from an unanimity of feeling 
never acting in opposition. 

Now although they might not oppose if the above is correct, they 
must act occasionally separately from each other, which destroys at 
once their unity, or else how could it be proved they had separate 
powers of speech, &c. ; the fact is, this idea, exactly the same as that 
of the Unitarian, proceeds from a practical, although not declared 
disbelief in the doctrine of immaterialism ; let that point be once fully 
conceded, and much difficulty appears removed. 

To advance upon this important tenet of our church (viz. immate- 
rialism) to defend the doctrine of the Trinity ; the only one in my 
opinion upon which it can be legitimately argued ; I beg to pro- 
pound the following premises : — 

Firstly. The Father appears eternally to have been and remained a 
Spirit, from many texts, of which the following are the most clear : 

" But the hour cometh and now is when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in 
" spirit and in truth, for the Father seeketh such to worship him. 

" God is a spirit, and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth." — 
John iv. 23, 24. 

Here is God spoken of as a spirit, being identified with the 
Father, and yet God is considered to include all three. 

" No man can come to me except the Father which hath sent me draw him." — John 
vi. 44. 

" For I am not alone but I and the Father that sent me." 

" And he that sent me is with me : the Father hath not left me alone." — John viii. 16 — 29. 

All these texts prove that the Father was constantly with Jesus, and 
yet as he was never seen but as Christ declared in him, it cannot 
be supposed he is any thing else but a pure and immaterial es- 
sence. 

Secondly. That, before the incarnation of our Saviour, and conse- 



NOTES TO CANTO II. 71 

quent ascension, the triune God was entirely a spirit, or immaterial 
essence, seems proved by the text, 

" A body hast thou prepared me." — Heb. x. 5. 

These being the words of our Saviour, or the Son or Word, before 
he came into the world, seem decidedly to infer that he had no body 
then, or else how could a body have been preparing or prepared for 
him, if he had one already ; or if such was the case, then after the 
ascension of his earthly body, he must have had tioo, the one having 
been inhabited by him from all eternitj^ the other the creature of time ; 
it seems, therefore, more reasonable to suppose that the Word, or 
Son, was originally a Spirit ! 

Thirdly. The Holy Ghost is so universally acknowledged to be 
spiritual, that it would be unnecessary to quote concerning that portion 
of the Godhead. 

We now come to the creed of St. Athanasius, which has given rise to 

so much dispute, but which really appears to me to be the only clear 

explanation of the Trinity extant. It says : 

" The Catholic faith is this, that we worship one God in Trinity, and Trinity in Unity ; 
" Neither confounding the persons nor dividing the substance." 

This creed being written originally in Latin, the word persona, as 
I have before said, has been translated all through "person" instead 
of character, office, power, &c. which would have been as correct; 
and the word " substance''' does not mean only a solid, but as Dr. John- 
son expresses it, " something of which we can say that it is" — See 
Dictionary. 

These phrases being explained, the creed proceeds on intelligible 
grounds. 

" For there is one person of the Father, another of the Son, and another of the Holy 
" Ghost. 

" But the Godhead of the Father, of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost, is all one : the glory 
** equal, the majesty co-eternal. 

" Such as the Father is, such is the Son, and such is the Holy Ghost." 



72 NOTES TO CANTO II. 

" So the Father is God, the Son is God, and the Holy Ghost is God. v 

" And yet there are not three Gods, but one God."< 

" The Father is made of none, neither created nor begotten. 
*' The Son is of the Father alone, not made nor created, but begotten. 
" The Holy Ghost is of the Father and of the Son, neither made, nor created, nor 
" begotten, but proceeding." 

The creed then takes up the incarnation of Christ, and thus goes on : 

** The right faith is that we believe and confess, that our Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of 
" God, is God and man. 

'■* God, of the substance of the Father, begotten before all worlds; and man of the sub- 
" stance of his mother, born in the world. 

" Perfect God and perfect man : of a reasonable soul and human flesh subsisting. 

" Equal to the Father as touching his Godhead : and inferior to the Father as touching 
" his manhood. 

" Who although he be God and man : yet he is not two but one Christ. 

" One not by conversion of the Godhead into flesh, but by taking of the manhood into 
" God. 

" One altogether, not by confusion of substance but by unity of perso . 

" For as the reasonable soul and flesh is one man, so God and man is one Christ." 

From the foregoing premises and quotations I deduce the following 
idea concerning the Trinity. That the Father is the mind, or inven- 
tive, and all-wise power of the Godhead ; the Son, the word or voice 
which completes by his mandate the intentions of the Father, and who 
is thus properly styled the only begotten Son of the Father (for the 
voice, even with man, is always being begotten by the mind every 
time it sounds, and yet no one, I should suppose, would contend that 
a man's mind was born before his voice) ; thus the Son, Word, or 
Voice, is continually the only begotten Son of the Mind, or Father, 
and yet is co-eternal with him ; and the Holy Ghost, I consider, is the 
proceeding essence from both ; which is the soul, the life, in a word, 
the very existence of the other two ; and thus the curse upon those 
who blaspheme him, as they endeavour to injure and insult the Soul 
of the Most High. 

These three I believe, although not according to the common 



NOTES TO CANTO II. 73 

idea, are each in themselves a perfect Being, and which proceeds from 
their unity. The Father thinks of himself, speaks through the medium 
of the Son, and exists through the medium of the Holy Ghost. The 
Son speaks when incited by the Father, thinks through the medium of 
the Father, and exists through the medium of the Holy Ghost. The 
Holy Ghost speaks by the Son, thinks through the Father, and exists 
in himself bs coming from both. 

The belief in immaterialism also makes it quite possible that each 
of these to immortal and pure eyes may be visible ; as spirits could 
distinctly be perceived one within the other without confusion ; not so 
solid bodies, this would be " confusion of substances." It is not clear 
to me but that angels perceive our souls as easily as our bodies ; our not 
seeing them, as I have said in former Notes, is no proof against their 
having form. 

Since the incarnation and resurrection of our Saviour, these three 
spirits, I believe, have inhabited his glorified body, and thus will the 
redeemed man, upon arriving in heaven, find himself in conformation 
and every other respect, the child of God. 

This doctrine will be resumed further on, therefore let not the 
reader be too hasty to agree or dissent until he has read all I have to 
say on the subject. 



Page 53, line 21. 

" Let there be light /" and at the joyous sound, 
Straight from the eyeball of Omnipotence 
The lambent fluid darting through expanse, 
Fled o^er the silent waters. 

It is astonishing how many theories have been promulgated with 
regard to light, and how little they have been able to stand the test of 
argument. Amongst all these the most extraordinary appears to be that 



74 NOTES TO CANTO II. 

which supposes light to consist of very minute particles, which are 
constantly being thrown off with amazing velocity from the surface 
of the object giving light; and philosophers have calculated to such 
a nicety that they assert, so large a body as the sun would not be 
perceptibly decreased in thousands of years. This may do very well 
with sun and stars ; but were this a true theory, what would become 
of the little glow-worm? why it would soon vanish; or what of the 
cat's, the lynx's, or any other animal's eye, which naturally emits 
light? surely they would soon be blind. Of what this element is com- 
posed we cannot possibly know ; but it is certainly reasonable to sup- 
pose, that its first emanation would be from the eye of God. 

" God is light."— 1 John i. 5. 
And our Saviour says — 

" The light of the body is the eye." — Mat. vi. 22. 

therefore I trust the above idea will be considered to have a plausible 
foundation. Some might very possibly say, how was it that there 
was any occasion to call for light, when God being light himself, 
Avould naturally have illuminated space as he descended from heaven. 
To this I should answer, that revelation tells us, darkness was upon 
the face of the deep ; and which is most likely, as it seems highly 
probable that Jehovah would restrain the outbursting of his effulgence 
until he had quieted Chaos, and rendered it less obnoxious to so pure 
an element. Besides, Christians believe as much the presence of 
God in the darkest night, as the brightest day ; he being able to 
discern as well in one as the other. 



Page 54, line 8. 

Nor thus contented; — but around its God 
Conglobing form 'd a burning orb of fire. 

Much speculation has existed upon what must have been the seat of 



NOTES TO CANTO II. 75 

light during creation the first three days, since the sun was not created 
until the fourth. Nothing that I have yet seen appears to be satis- 
factory, as they all, more or less, destroy the authenticity of the 
Scriptures. This is avoided by the above mode of explaining it, an 
idea which agrees with all the visions of the Almighty's glory men- 
tioned in Ezekiel and the Revelations, or any other part of the Bible. 
This illustration Mall, I feel assured, appear doubly satisfactory to the 
reader when he peruses the creation of the sun, &c. on the fourth day, 
contained in Canto 5. 



Page 54, line 14. 
{As round the huge chaotic mass moved on 
With revolutionary path below, 
And which strange action it had still retained, 
As first compelVd by torrents from above). 
Water falling from a tremendous height into a hollow always per- 
forms this sort of action, whirling round with velocity whatever it may 
come in contact with. " Strange action," refers to its novelty at 
this period, not the peculiarity : and its continuance after the tor- 
rents had ceased to descend, is only the natural effect of impulse, as 
bodies continue to move long after the impelling power has ceased to 
exist; the more so when they are exquisitely balanced. 



Page 55, line 3. 

Go forth, divinest essence of myself , 
And be the future principle of life, ; 
All things inhabit ; destitute of thee 
Nought shall survive, nought flourish or rejoice. 
It seems probable that the Almighty, ere he pronounced light to be 



76 NOTES TO CANTO II. 

good, would give it directions for action ; should any one think this 
stretching the imagination beyond the bounds of probability, the fol- 
lowing text will show that God has ever been in the habit of address- 
ing and being obeyed by the elements : 

" Even the wind and the sea obey him. — Mark iv. 41. 

It is also remarkable, to see how everything dioops when de- 
prived of light ; and as to its indwelling principle, that is proved by 
the fact, that phosphorus is extracted from so many things, and that 
every thing more or less contains fire ; for fire is but concentrated 
light, as the burning-glass at once demonstrates. Thus how great 
does the wisdom of God appear, in calling forth that essence first 
which was to pervade and nourish every thing about to be created. 
It also seems more in keeping with the general attributes of the Deit}', 
to imagine him as foreseeing every circumstance that would happen 
and preparing for it accordingly; he having his own secret and wise 
reasons for suffering all subsequent changes to take place. 



Page 56, line 5. 
And when his roving eye reverts above, 
And there beholds thy universal sway, 
His leaping soul shall struggle in his breast, 
To burst the bands uihich bind it down below. 
It is a remarkable fact, that nothing seems to elevate the soul so 
much as the contemplation of the heavens : as if the periods when 
man is enabled to view the starry firmament, or the unclouded splen- 
dour of day, was more particularly chosen by God to raise his spirit in 
adoration to his Maker. I never knew a truly religious and contem- 
plative mind, that did not feel doubly so on a starlight or moonlight 
night, or that was insensible to the beauties of sunshine. At such 
times, indeed, the delighted soul appears to be bursting from its 
earthly tenement. 



NOTES TO CANTO II. 77 

Page 58, line 2. 
In shapes innumerous of death appear ; 
And be the scourge of those who once thou blessed ! 
This passage requires some explanation. In representing the Deity 
as addresssing light, I do not mean to confine his admonitions to that 
essence merely which produces the difference between night and day, 
but to all its varied forms ; such as lightning and fire, and the several 
purposes to which the latter of these is applied by man for the destruc- 
tion of his fellow- creatures. 



Page 59, line 5. 
As oft as he in contact meets thyself, 
So oft wilt thou with indignation flash, 
And fall consuming in a burning stream, 
The varied produce of the vicious world. 
We may infer that tempests are often caused by the devil, although 
allowed by God, from the following text : 

" While he was yet speaking, there came also another, and said, the fire of God is fallen 
K from heaven, and hath burned up the sheep and the servants, and consumed them." Job 
i. 16. 

That Satan was the cause of this fire descending, which Job's friends 
called, as people would in the present day, the " fire of God," is evi- 
dent from the import of the preceding verses ; as there the Devil 
obtains leave to tempt Job. 



Page 59, line 9. 

To teach mankind the only source from ivhich 
The constant curse of perfidy proceeds. 
It is too frequently the case, that men when visited by any calamity ? 
accuse, either in word or effect, the Almighty of cruelty, in bringing 



78 NOTES TO CANTO IT. 

such visitation upon them. But if it can be proved that Satan is the 
cause of sorrow, and which appears very probable by the above quo- 
tation from the book of Job, then man has only himself to blame in 
his various tribulations, for having by disobedience given an oppor- 
tunity to the Wicked One to persecute him. 



Page 59, line 19. 

Then let a circling halo round the heap 
Of foul corruption, thy departiwe prove. 

When animal or even vegetable substances are in a state of pu- 
trescence, a phosphoric light may be seen in the dark to issue from 
them, and which evidently proves that light which is indwelling whilst 
they are living, departs upon death and corruption visiting them. 



Page 60, line 11. 

By thy assisting glare his soul shall learn 

To wend repentingly the way of faith ; 

His many doubts shall be removed by thee, 

To render less forlorn his low estate. 
By means of light man is enabled to contemplate the promises of 
revelation ; and by such contemplation, to have many doubts respecting 
his future welfare removed. 



Page 60, line 1 9. 

Shall thou appear to consummate the whole, 
Exhaling incense from the offering. 
As I have said before, fire is but concentrated light ; thus its ap* 



NOTES TO CANTO II. 79 

pearance upon the altar under the Jewish dispensation, was but another 
form of that essence which opened the work of creation. 



Page 61, line 7» 

But of thy benefits the chief shall be 
The recognition of redeeming grace, 
By thee beheld in human form enclosed, 
That as unto the body are thy beams. 
So to the Spirit also that shall be. 
The following texts are sufficient illustrations of the above without 
any comment, except that it was by the means of natural light that 
our Saviour was seen, and from witnessing his miracles known by 
Believers. 
" Alight to lighten the Gentiles and the glory of thy people Israel." — Luke ii. 32. 
" In him was life and the life was the light of men." — John i. 4. 

" I am the light of the world, he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall 
have the light of life."— John viii. 12. 



Page 61, line 16. 

So pregnant with the knowledge of my will, 
I now can bless thee, and pronounce thee good. 

I have here imagined that God did not bless and pronounce light to 
be good, until he had charged it with his intentions, and which I take 
to be the true meaning of the passage 

"And God saw the light that it was good.— Gen. i. 4. 

Since it was impossible for him to make any thing that was bad; but 
being a God of strict justice, he did not choose aught to remain unin- 
structed of the manner in which it must act to please him ; thus man 
had only to obey, and no harm would have ever come to him. 



80 NOTES TO CANTO II. 

Page 62, line 14. 
Fill his pure soul with visions of myself, 
And bless his eyelids with serenest peace. 
God is now addressing darkness or night, and which, I have no 
doubt, before the fall was a season in which man was often favoured 
with visions of his Maker, instead of the silly and sometimes sinful 
dreams, which are now the burden of that period. Indeed, there are 
numerous instances recorded in the Bible, of pious characters being 
favoured in sleep with views of heaven and its inhabitants. 



Page 63, line 17- 
Yet time shall come when thou wilt e'en preside 
Big with redemption to deluded man. 
" Now from the sixth hour there was darkness over all the land unto the ninth hour."— 
Mat. xxvii. 45. 

This was a time, indeed, when Man had cause to bless the appearance 
of darkness, and one from which Hell must have shrunk ; for the 
former was redeemed and the latter conquered. 



Page 64, line 4. 
Thus time at first with Evening began. 
I cannot help expressing my surprise, that ever there should have 
been any cavilling concerning Evening having precedence of Morning, 
in the first chapter of Genesis ; viz. " and the evening and the morning 
were the first day" since, until light was called forth, there could be 
no morning or commencement of day ; and therefore its opposite 
which held sway when God descended to create the world, &c. is 
elegantly and properly styled evening. 



CANTO III. 



" And God said, let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters, and let it divide 
the waters from the waters. 

"And God made the firmament, and divided the waters which were under the firma- 
ment from the waters which were above the firmament, and it was so. 

"And God called the firmament Heaven. And the evening and the morning were the 
second day."— Gkn. i. 6 to 8. 



ARGUMENT. 



Chaos in rotatory motion having performed a perfect journey, the 
Almighty forbids it longer to remain impure, commanding it to be at 
once refined.— Immediately the dregs descend towards central Hell, 
and surround it.' — The waters thus become purified, and assume their 
former clearness as when part of the stream of life. — Yet one impure 
although concentrated spot remains in their centre. — God, knowing 
the impropriety of such a contact, commands a separation by a fir- 
mament. — Thus the pure waters are divided from the impure, the 
former rising until they reach the base of Heaven, breath from the 
bosom of Jehovah having filled the vacuum. — God addresses the fir- 
mament, declaring that Light and Air, both proceeding from Himself 
shall be the two vital principals. — While man is innocent, Air to be a 
cause of joy, particularly in hearing his Creator speak. — When sinful, 
a cause of terror, especially from God's voice. — Yet a time shall 
come, when Air will be the conveying medium of exultation, in the 
hearing of the Gospel. — The Deity calls the firmament Heaven 
from being like the Heaven of Heavens. — He then divides in four 
equal parts the firmament, and in each places one of the Winds. — 
He addresses them, and gives them their rule of government for man 
while virtuous, and when sinful. — The Omnipotent next bespeaks 
the putrid spot, which still forms the centre of Infinity ; foretelling its 
deposal by the future Sun. — He last addresses the waters above, 
describing their glorious attributes. — The peculiar state of Immen- 
sity being shown, the evening and morning form the second day. 



CANTO THIRD 



®bt titmttom 



And now the aqueous immense, which hung 
In space suspended by the will of God, 
With rotatory motion had perform'd 
A consummate journey ; — so that the point 
Of this incongruous which did confront 
The base of Heaven (when Omnipotence 
At first descended in the plenitude 
Of godly power), had attain'd anew 
Its lofty summit, and thus having come 
Again in turn beneath the spirit form 
Of Great Jehovah, had receiving light 
From his refulgent essence, pass'd away, 
And was afresh reseeking the abode 
Of gloomy darkness ; — when the Deity 
Revolving Chaos in these terms address'd, 

6 2 



82 THE CREATION. [Canto ITT; 

" Oh thou impure detestable ! — shalt thou 
Thus circumvolve thy hateful grume of sin • 
Another round, uncleansed, unpurified ? — 
No ! — I forbid thee ! — be thou now refined, 
And purged from infamy and the attaint 
Of Satan's blasphemies ; — thy dregs depose 
To thy curst centre, there enclosing Hell 
Within its own iniquity, begird 
It with a clammy shell of putrid mire, 
The filthy settlings of thy tainted waves ; 
That so thou may'st be made to re-assume 
Thy former purity, nor longer be 
Offensive to my vision, and the sight 
Of pious angels in the realms of bliss." — 

Scarce ceased the words, when tVards the central fire 
That held the midst of this vast liquid bulk, 
(And which at first and since the Lord exclaimed 
" Peace, peace, thou deep ! " had been around its flames 
Condensing a thick robe of smoke opake ; 
So that its heat no longer had effect 
Upon the watVy waste which press'd around 
With deadly silence), now began to sink 
The lees and purgings of this black aquose 



Canto III.] SECOND DAY. 83 

With concentrating weight, and thus surround 
Damnation's residence, — to there become 
A globe terraqueous with burning core. 

And now the deep began to re-appear 
Of crystal clearness, (as it once had been 
When gliding through the kingdom of its God, 
Part of the Stream of Life) and shining forth 
Pellucid, pure, and undefiled again, 
A Sphere transparent was, which now contain'd 
One only sinful spot, — its centre that ; 
And though so small, that to this pondVous mass 
It seem'd a speck to the Eternal eye, 
Yet still so base, so vile, and so befoul'd, 
As longer quite unfitted to conjoin 
With the pure body which encompass'd it. 

So saw the Infinite, and thundering said, 
" Ye waters, which before ye were commix 1 d 
With blasphemy and sin were free from taint, 
Polluted shall ye now no more remain 
In baneful contact with yon hell-born mire : 
Up then, arise ! and round the loathsome clot 
Of foul corruption let expansion be, 



84 THE CREATION. [Canto III. 

And in its wide-extending scope be fiVd 
A steadfast firmament of lucid air, 
Which by its vital region may divide 
Thy peaceful element from fcetid tears 
Of fallen Angels and the slime of Hell." 

God spake ; — and as his accents smote, the Gulph 
Commenced expanding round the dark globose 
Which occupied its middle; — rising on 
(First having severed to admit within 
Its hollow space the living cloud of light 
Which round the Godhead circled, closed again,) 
It kept dilating ; till, at last, behold ! 
The awe-struck water lick'd the very base 
Of th' Eternal walls of highest Heaven. 
This was its utmost boundary ; beyond 
This limit it attempted not to reach ; 
Nor on those sides which were not so opposed 
Did it protrude ; but still retain'd its shape 
Of globular conformity ; — nor back 
It ventured to return ; for as it rose, 
Proceeding breath from the Almighty's breast 
Had filFd the void its parting waters left ; 
Which thus a new-born Element became 



Canto III.] SECOND DAY. 85 

Of separating medium, between 

The streams of virtue and the floods of crime. 

Then did the Deity the firmament 
Address, — declaratory of his will. 
For as the light and darkness had received 
The mandates of their ruler, so 'twas fit 
That also it should have a government 
Mark'd out by the All-knowing and All- wise. 

" Thou essence gender'd in thy Maker s breast, 
Thou second source of all vitality, 
Hear my commands, and tremble and obey. — 
Let all hereafter which in thee may dwell, 
Draw life and vigour from thy airy range ; 
The future earth shall need thy genVous aid 
With constant verdure to replenish it ; 
And so with thine enliv'ning strength support 
All nature, and assistance give to light ; 
That ye conjoint may be the very soul 
Of all created substances in space. 

" While man is guiltless, thou shalt be his joy, 
His pleasant solace both by night and day ; 



86 THE CREATION. [Canto III. 

By thee shall to his ravish'd ear be borne 

In floating melody, the dulcet tones 

Of sounds celestial and heav'nly praise. — 

For oft shall Angels from the realms of bliss 

Sent forth on sacred missions by my Word, 

In passing through thee, most devoutly tune 

Their pious voices, to extol their God 

For their existence, or the vict'ry gain'd 

'Gainst Satan and his tribe, or this new work 

Of my unerring and just providence. — 

Then shalt thou waft upon thy buoyant wings 

Some soft vibrations of the joyous song 

To his enraptured senses, and rebear 

With backward flight to my Almighty throne, 

The overflowings of a grateful heart 

In hymns of adoration from his mouth. 

And warbling notes of morn and eVning birds, 

Upon thy buxom air, with oft a strain 

Of echoing harmony, shall attract 

His mind, entranced at some discover'd good 

Of bounteous nature, and bid him learn 

The wond'rous attributes of him that rules 

With equal pow'r the hidden and the seen. 

With what devotion will his bosom beat 



Canto III.] SECOND DAY. ST 

Whene'er he turns his eager eye above, 
And there beholds thy arching canopy 
Thick sown with beauty for his benefit. 
And I ! — e'en I ! — will also use thy breath 
For swift conveyance to his list'ning soul 
Of sacred duties to my worship due ; 
Then shall he bless thee, — then indeed delight 
In that thy gift more precious than the rest, 
The means of hearing his Creator speak. 

" But ah ! — when sinful, how his guilty frame 
Will shrink and hide from that he loved before 
So well to listen to, — his Maker's voice ! 
How will his stricken form with terror bend 
When thunder rolls across thee, and the storm 
Blackens thy angry brow, — or 'thwart thy face 
A flash of vivid lightning darts, and smites 
His all with desolation ! — when the cries 
Of shrieking kindred shall appal, or when 
Famine and Pestilence above his head 
Shall hang, and blast the dearest ties of blood, 
Of love, and friendship ; — or when blasphemy. 
Or superstition, and intolerance, 
Breaking their boundary of Hell, shall burst 



88 THE CREATION. [Canto III 

Upon thine element, and thus approve 
The Fiend unfetter'd for a while on Earth. 

" Yes, then hell dread thee ! — but a time shall come 
When thou with pity will repay his woe, 
Reverberating with prophetic words, 
4 Repent, for heaven's kingdom is at hand.' 
And when redemption, in a form of flesh, 
Shall through thy medium declare to man 
Eternal life and everlasting bliss : 
And having taught his fallen race the road 
By which alone they can recover grace, 
And find a ransom for their lost estate ; 
Shall mount upon thy pinions, and regain 
The blest abode he'll leave for mercy's sake. — 
And oft shall spirits ministrant descend, 
By thy assistance to the chosen few 
Amongst mankind, whom I shall then appoint 
To be proclaimers of my sacred law, 
And teach in dreams and visions of the night, 
Some of my greatest glories, or instil 
The balm of comfort to a tortured brain, 
And consolation pour into the soul 
Rack'd by a sense of guiltiness and sin. — 



Canto III.] SECOND DAY. 

" And now by name of Heaven be thou calFd, 
For in similitude thou hast been framed 
Of that high dwelling, where is hVd my throne, 
Surrounded by an everlasting host 
Of blazing forms of immortality; — 
More thick than stars, which in a little while 
Shall throng thy countenance ; — who there rejoice 
That they reflect my beams and do inhale 
My breath ethereal ;— ^ so shall the light, 
Bright issue of mine eye, and thy pure air, 
The produce of my breast, uniting, be 
Chief vital sources of the Universe : 
That all contain'd within thy vast expanse, 
In me may live, and move, and being have H 

So spake the Lord, — and then divided next 
Into four equal parts the Firmament : 
In central point of each of which he bound 
With close imprisonment the restless winds,— 
Till now restraint in his Almighty grasp, — 
• Addressing thus their fetter'd violence. 

" Hear this, Oh ye !— -who had not but for sin 
Been 'ere existent ; — and your duties learn : — 



90 THE CREATION. [Canto III. 

While man is innocent, dare not disturb 

His peace with your destroying influence ; 

But when, forgetful of a strict command 

From his Creator, he shall rebel prove, 

Then may ye break the trammels of your rage, 

And toss the sea and howling sweep the earth ; 

Whirling its increase with your phrensied blasts 

In darkling desolation o'er the skies ; 

Beat down his shelter, shattering around 

His frighted head the ruins; — blowing, hurl 

Death and annihilation to his stock 

Of sustenance, in myriads of black 

And loathsome vermin, to consume or taint 

The food predestined for himself and his : — 

Or round him batter with your hurried yells 

Descending heaps of watery concrete ; 

Reducing his abundance to a mass 

Of useless and unsound deformity. 

Then, on your pinions borne, shall sally forth 

Satan, presiding daemon of the work 

Of dreadful chastisement ; and gloating o'er 

The blasting effluence of his perfidy, 

Shall in your wailings oftentimes be heard 

With shrieking laugh to clap his fiendish wings. 



anto TIL] SECOND DAY 91 

" But even ye, by varied means, shall grant 
A frequent blessing to humanity. 
How oft will he invoke ye, to propel 
His floating substance to a foreign strand, 
There in a kindly intercourse, to make 
By profitable change his livelihood. 
Or on some errand of still greater worth, 
To him enwrapp'd in ignorance and crime, 
Bearing emancipation to the soul, 
And lead him on exulting to his God. 

" And now my ministers, — for such must be 
All in the cycle of Infinitude, 
Which, tho* apparently producing ill 
In many of their most appalling acts, 
Yet ever shall be working to the end 
Of good, of glory, and of holiness. — 
Ye shall be call'd the Winds, and shall assume 
Your designations from your chosen haunts.— 
And first the East, for soon the orb of day 
Shall seem to Earth from thence to take its rise ; 
And next the South, as marking out the line 
Of that great body in its altitude : 
And then the West, where it shall sink to blaze 



92 THE CREATION. ' [Canto III, 

Again in grandeur on the eastern side : 
And last the North, which being opposite 
The South will index its meridian." 

So spake Omniscience ; — and then address'd 
The putrid body, which enclosing Hell, 
Around its axis still revolved, beneath 
The shining column of God's holy light. 

" Do thou, while time shall last, hold on thy course 
Of circumvolving action ; — tho' anon 
A second motion thou art doom'd to bear 
Of impulse, round a purer sphere than thou, 
Which, in a blaze of brilliancy enclosed, 
Shall in thy present situation fiVd, 
Become the centre to immensity : 
Whilst thou displaced shall 'bout its flame rotate 
RepelPd, and at a sacred distance kept, 
And striving vainly to regain the spot, 
Of which thou art the present occupant. 
By its refulgence thou shalt also glow, 
Reflecting brightness from its ardent rays ; 
And be one spot of beauty 'mongst the rest 
Which will 'ere long the Firmament adorn," 



Canto III.] SECOND DAY. 93 

And now Jehovah, with unbounded gaze, 
Beheld the gulph that flow'd on ev'ry side ; 
And hence for ever to become the term 
Of space, — and all beyond Infinity : 
And which continued to keep on its course 
As first assumed, when from the realms of God 
Descending, with cascadial thunder down 
And whirl of cataract ; — altho' no more, 
With boist'rous waves it o'er and o'er now dash'd 
In vortex of confusion ; but moved on 
With gentle revolution still and pure ; 
And far removed, by intermediate range 
Of circumscription, by the Firmament ; 
Yet equidistant from the hateful spot, 
Which form'd a common centre to them both ;— 
Hell circumvested by the slough of sin. — 
When thus the Godhead, with Omnific voice, 
Bespake the waters of Infinitude. 

" Roll on for ever, thou Eternal flood, 
In silent greatness of thy purity ; 
And spread thy everlasting bulk between 
The joy of Heaven and the grief of Hell. 
Obscured by distance from a mortal's ken, 



94 THE CREATION, [Canto III. 

But seen by each one in his agony 
Of thirsty torture, in the pit of woe ; — 
There in the depth of misery he'll plead 
In suppliant torment, with some heir of bliss — 
Beheld through thy transparency far off 
In blest estate, upon celestial shores, — 
With speaking gesture, to descend and bring 
If but one finger moisten'd in thy stream, 
To cool the anguish of a burning tongue : 
But worse than useless will the prayers of such 
Be soon apparent to the sons of light ; 
For thou shalt insurmountably oppose 
Such baneful intercourse to holy minds. — 
Then will the lost read in the waving hand 
Or shaken head, the knowledge of their fate ; 
And thou approved a never-yielding bar 
Twixt guilt and virtue, perfidy and faith. 

" Yet greater glories are apportion^ thee, 
Than merely thus to circumvent the damn'd : 
Thou art become the Ocean of the Blest, 
The sea stupendous of Immensity ; — 
Henceforward shalt thou wash the buttresses 
Of changeless strength and never-conquer'd might ; 



Canto III.] SECOND DAY. 95 

Upon thy breast let ever-verdant plains 

Stretch far and wide, and on their margin stand 

Undying foliage and unfading bloom : — 

Let fruits ambrosial o'er thy stream depend 

From boughs immortal ; whilst beneath their shade, 

Spirits of grace, and ever new delights 

Shall range, to serve the bidding of their God. 

Full oft upon thy bosom, barks divine, 

With freight angelic, shall be borne along ; 

And strains extatic from the souls redeemed, 

Shall waft across thee in a song of praise." 

So spake the Lord, pronouncing to be good, 
All that was yet created by his Word : 
And wondrous truly was this mighty work 
Of his Omnipotence : — for now in place 
Of raging tumult and chaotic maze, 
Order and form had taken up their reign 
Within the bowels of Infinity. 
There stood the Heavenly City, thro"' whose gates, 
Alone could any thing created pass 
Or ere repass from boundlessness to space ; 
And rounding 'bout and downwards to below 
The gulph ;— in spherical conformity ; — 



96 THE CREATION. [Canto III 

« 

Which thus composed one vastly pondVous orb, 
Doom'd to endure for all Eternity ; 
And which within its womb was to contain 
The mighty framework of the Universe ; 
Worlds enclosed by Heaven ! Space by Extent ! 
Time by Eterne ! — Creation by its God ! ! ! 

And now another journey was complete. 
Another perfect revolution made ; 
And light and darkness had revisited 
In sev'ral turn each point of the Immense ; 
So E'en and Morn was thus the Second Day 
Of the first week of ages that should end 
With the last trumpet's awful sound alone. 



END OF CANTO III. 



NOTES. 



CANTO III. 

Page 81, line 1. 

And now the aqueous immense, ivhich hung 

In space suspended by the will of God, 

With rotatory motion had perform? d 

A consummate journey. — 
It seems highly probable, that, although the sun appears not to have 
been created until the fourth day, yet Chaos must have had a revolv- 
ing action, in order to form the several evenings and mornings men- 
tioned in the first chapter of Genesis, as diurnal periods before the 
existence of the heavenly bodies. 

It will be seen, also, that although I have represented Chaos as 
being collected in the centre of Infinity, yet I speak of it as only 
remaining there by the will of God, since in a former note I have 
stated that such point must, of course, depend upon his will. 



Page 82, line 4. 

— " be thou now refined, 
And purged from infamy and the attaint 
Of Satan's blasphemies." — 
Modern Poets are too fond of taking license from the ancient 
writers, and thus introducing ideas similar to, and very often actu- 

H 2 



98 NOTES TO CANTO IIT. 

ally copied from their works; as if the heathen Homer and Virgil 
were to be the standards from which Poems on Christian subjects 
were to be modelled at the present day ; whilst our drama is con- 
trary, and Sophocles, Euripides, Aristophanes, &c. &c. &c. are 
left to their own ideality, within the precints of a college library, for 
the perusal of the learned ; or occasionally spouted forth by a school- 
boy at some public festival. How would a play be hissed at this 
period, if the Strophe and Antistrophe were introduced, which were 
choruses of persons, unconnected with the piece in any other way than 
between the speeches of the principal characters, to dance across the 
stage to the other side, passing the others ; or, properly speaking, 
changing sides, and after the next speech, going back again ; and all 
for what? why, to sing something in favour of the person, having 
just spoken, or connected with his prospects, intentions, or interests. 
The immortal Shakspeare, would have scorned to have trammelled 
his admirable historical plays with such folly ; and yet Poems, upon 
subjects intimately connected with our everlasting happiness, and 
which ought to be written to form our manners and affections, are 
to be crammed full of heathenism and absurdity. What is the benefit of 
representing Satan as a noble warrior, a second Achilles for instance ? 
Is it not calculated to excite our admiration of him, to make us feel 
pity for him (and pity is nearly allied to love), and to think in a mea- 
sure that God has been too severe towards him ; instead of turning us 
with hatred and disgust from the dark apostate, and raising our 
hearts in gratitude to that All-perfect and All-merciful Being who 
has put it in our power to be rescued from the tyranny of the wicked 
one. Or where is the object of representing Hell full of Lofty Towers 
and Splendid Palaces ; with sports of all kinds going forward, and 
the dulcet tones of harp or rebeck floating in melody through the 
air ? copied only from mythological representations of the Elysian 
fields ; with this very important difference, that Elysium was the 
Heathens'' heaven, — the place of reward for the virtuous; whilst I 
know One who has represented it as the Christians' 1 Hell : is this likely 
to excite terror at the eternal loss of God's favour ? Many I will ven- 
ture to affirm, would, on the contrary, prefer Hell to Heaven. Had a 



NOTES TO CANTO III. 99 

model for the lost estate been wanted, Tartarus, the Hell of the more 
consistent, although it has been affirmed, less talented, Virgil would 
have been a better example. 

It may here be said, that no one believes such representations as 
the above; and that they are only admired as showing- the fertile 
imagination of the poet; but let me state that Imagination ought not 
to be made the vehicle of absurdity, as it then no longer deserves the 
name, but is Phantasm ; besides, it is agreed on all sides, that the 
object of an Epic Poem ought to be to instil religion, and improve 
the morals : — such nonsense as is referred to above cannot have that 
effect. If happily, it does no harm, it certainly never can do any good ; 
whereas Homer and Virgil did their duty, since they really supported 
their religion, and were believed by their contemporaries ; as many 
of the improbable stories they relate were in accordance with the 
tenets of their faith ; thus proving themselves, both, in virtue and 
talent , far the superiors of those who, in their works, make a jumble 
of Heathenism and Christianity. 

I now come to the principle object of this note ; viz. an ex- 
planation and argumentative illustration of the lines which head the 
above observations. 

It will be seen in the next Canto that the various component parts or 
strata of this our earth are represented to originate with the several 
blasphemies, curses, cries of terror, &c. of the devils whilst falling, 
as also, after reaching Hell ; and which would appear fanciful and 
improbable did we not know that similar effects occur in nature 
continually. 

Suppose, for instance, by way of experiment, the purest distilled 
water was placed in a vessel, and burning brimstone in a melted state 
allowed to fall through it; although the brimstone itself was removed, 
it would be found the water would become impure, and a substance 
would be deposited. 

Again, let impure and pestiferous air be blown upon the water, and 
a similar effect would be the result, added to which a slime would 
collect on the surface. 

From fire of all sorts the smoke that arises falls again in some sub- 



100 NOTES TO CANTO III. 

stantial shape or other ; and thus the idea of chaos being formed by 
the devils in their fall, pursued by flames, blaspheming and cursing in 
their course, and ultimately surrounded by the watery gulph (which 
boiling furiously from the heat of internal hell, would thus create of 
itself scum and filth), continuing to throw up their iniquitous upbraid- 
ings, seems not only possible but probable : and upon the Earth's 
formation, that they should be made to take, by the Almighty various 
genuses, according to their several properties, seems, I submit 
only a natural consequence, and in accordance with Divine wisdom. 



Page 82, line 15. 

Scarce ceased the vjords, when f wards the central fire 
That held the midst of this vast liquid bulk 

It may appear to some rather improbable that a fire could exist in 
the centre of water ; but when they remember that Hell is spoken of 
" as the unquenchable fire" and that there are even chemical pre- 
parations that will burn in water, the difficulty appears removed. 



Page 84, line 3. 

" Which by its vital region may divide 
Thy peaceful element from foetid tears 
Of fallen Angels and the slime of HeN." 

Many have been the speculations upon the assertion that God 
divided the " waters from the waters ;" and which expression was 
most likely the origin of a theory, I believe, anciently held, — that the 
various bodies in the universe, were kept revolving by means of 
whirlpools, or some such nonsence : but the great Sir Isaac Newton 
has set speculation at rest upon that point. Divines have since 
supposed the " waters above the firmament " related to the rain : 
this is, T think, easily disproved ; for is it likely (as is told in the 
second chapter of Genesis), that a mist would have gone up from 
the Earth in order to water the Earth (precisely the means by 



NOTES TO CANTO III. 101 

which we have had rain up to this date), if there had been the 
same element placed above the firmament for that purpose ; besides, 
the firmament does not merely mean the atmosphere which sur- 
rounds our globe ; but that expansion which stretches beyond all 
human sight; and in which moves countless bodies in their orbits. 
It thus becomes a matter of inquiry and interest, what these waters 
above the firmament can be ; and here let me observe, that imagina- 
tion ought to fill up the vacuum, left or impassable by science, and 
not as I have said before, be made the vehicle of absurdity. 

In the parable delivered by our God and Saviour of the rich man 
and Lazarus, Abraham thus addresses Dives who is tormented in 
Hell. 

" Between us and you there is a great gulph fixed : so that they which would pass from 
hence to you cannot -, neither can they pass to us, that would come from thence." — Luke 
xv i. 26. 

Thus, it appears that a gulph of some kind or other is fixed be- 
tween Heaven and Hell ; and now comes the point of what that 
gulph is composed. It is not from its name necessary that it should 
be water; as a vacuum, or a body of air, or any enormous depth, 
may be a gulph ; but had it been the first, there would have been no 
difficulty in passing it, at any rate, to the holy ones ; as a vacuum is 
too easily passed, there being nothing to oppose. Had it been the 
second, intercourse would have been facilitated ; as an immaterial 
spirit could find no difficulty in buoying on a volume of air ; but if 
water then immateriality would naturally float instead of sinking 
through the body ; and thus on both sides of the gulph, there would 
be the same difficulty of penetrating it. 

It seems therefore probable this gulph spoken of by our Saviour is 
formed of those waters, which at the Creation were divided from the 
waters by the firmament ; and being placed beyond all human sight, 
form the boundaries of the Universe and space, although only the 
foundation of the Heaven of Heavens and Infinitude : and thus, in 
this Canto, God is represented as not only creating the Universe, but 
completing the Heaven of Heavens ; and which, appears probable as 
" In the beginning God created the Heavens and the Earth !" 



102 NOTES TO CANTO III. 

Page 85, line 9. 

" Thou essence gendered in thy Maker's breast, 

Thou second source of all vitality." 
It will be remembered, that in this Poem, light, one of the vital 
principles, springs forth from God's eye ; so it appears in keeping, 
that air, the other source of vitality, should proceed from his bosom, 
and thus exemplify the text 

" In him we live, and move, and have our being."— Acts xvii. 28. 
According to which supposition, not only man, but all animals and 
vegetable life, are made to depend on principles of nourishment pro- 
ceeding direct from God himself. 



Page 87, line 2. 

" And there beholds thy arching canopy 
Thick sown with beauty for his benefit.'''' 

There has been much argument concerning the various heavenly, 
bodies with respect to their duration and use. Some think they were 
created before this world, and are inhabited worlds themselves : 
others, that at any rate, they are not of any further use to this globe, 
than ornamental, excepting of course the Sun and its attendant satel- 
lites ; whilst on the contrary, many, (and not the least learned portion 
either,) believe them to be intimately connected with, and the strong- 
influential rulers of events in this our little globe. 

The last of these I confess, I strongly favour, and which will be 
argued in its proper place when the stars are created ; but for the 
present it may be as well to state, that, however small and insignificant 
this earth may be, when compared with the other portions of the 
Universe ; yet it is evident they were created for our use ; and will 
only last as long as we do, in proof of which the following texts, I 
trust will be deemed sufficient authority. Speaking of the sorrows pre- 
ceding the final judgment ; 



NOTES TO CANTO III. 103 

" Immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened, and the moon 
shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens 
shall be shaken."— Mat. xxiv. 29. 

Also, Peter says : — 

" But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night ; in the which the heavens shall 
pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also 
and the works that are therein shall be burned up."— 2 Pet. iii. 10. 

It thus appears improbable, that there would be this general wreck 
of the Universe ; if all others were not secondary to, intimately con- 
nected with, and entirely dependent upon the fate of this world; 
besides, after this general annihilation " a new heavens and a new 
earth," are to be created clearly proving 1 that the old will have en- 
tirely disappeared ; and which would be unlikely were they inhabited 
by beings who had never offended God, and were composed of systems 
distinct and apart from us, as it would appear unjust to include them 
in so general a destruction ; the cause of which they had taken no 
part in bringing about. I shall, however, dilate more on this subject 
in the notes to the fifth Canto. 



Page 88, line 19. 

" And teach in dreams and visions of the night, 
Some of my greatest glories T 

Various opinions have been hazarded concerning dreams, whether 
they had any connection with the invisible and eternal world or no ; 
and it appears to me, the reason why nothing like a definite conclu- 
sion has yet been arrived at, is from the circumstance of the arguers 
never making any distinction between Mind and Soul; always speak- 
ing of them as one and the same. As I have before stated, I believe 
man to be in himself a Trinity, viz. Mind, Body, and Soul; and thus 
with dreams, some induced by the mind, and some by the soul : those 
connected with the mind, 1 think proceed partly from supernatural, 
and partly from natural causes : those of the soul I believe are of the 
immaterial world alone. 



104 NOTES TO CANTO III. 

In order to support this position, it becomes necessary to show how 
the soul's dream and that of the mind are distinguishable ; and whether 
sometimes, or indeed often, they are not both at the same moment 
bearing- their part in the nocturnal vision. 

That dreams, or, as they were then generally called, visions, were 
a means of supernatural instruction, if we believe the Bible at all, is 
proved by Jacob's dream, the several visions of Ezekiel and other 
Prophets, as also, of later date, the Revelations to Saint John ; and 
there appears no reason why this mode of divine communication 
should be discontinued in the present day. 

We thus come to the difference between dreams of the mind and 
visions of the soul, making this distinction of terms, not only on ac- 
count of convenience, but also, as I consider, of applicability. 

Upon retiring to rest after a fatiguing day of either corporeal or 
mental exertion, should a dream present itself either as recapitulary 
of, or connected with, the past events, this I should say was produced 
by the immaterial mind, which, unlike the body, was still in a state of 
vigour and activity ; and reflecting or re-enacting at night the scenes 
which had occupied its attention and energies during the day. But 
when slumbering, should a vision be induced either of Heaven or Hell, 
or any mystical and apparently prophetical forewarning of a coming 
event, and in connection with which the awakened visionist can trace 
no analogy to his thoughts or actions, this, I say, must proceed from 
the soul ; as the mind cannot have any thing to do with that it has not 
been engaged upon, as we all know that the mind only expands, and is 
active in proportion to its various degrees of employment ; not so the 
soul ; that of the infant is as ripe as the man's ; it is as immortal and 
as ready for Heaven ; and I have known children have nightly visions 
which were as evidently superior to the general tenor of their youth- 
ful ideas as possible, and which, had they not for the time being ap- 
peared to have had their mental powers raised above the usual level, 
they would have been totally unable to narrate. 

It is a question, in my humble opinion, whether the soul ever slum- 
bers at all ; whilst the mind evidently does, or else we could always 
give upon waking some relation of our thought's employment dur ing 



NOTES TO CANTO III. 105 

sleep. Besides which, it not (infrequently happens that when broad 
awake, a temporary absence of mind as it is called takes place, and 
the person so affected cannot with all his endeavours discover upon 
what his meditations have been employed, or whether they have been 
so at all. 

Thus, the three portions of the one man seem to be most essentially 
different, in this way : that the body often sleeps, the mind occasional^, 
the soul never ; and now I am expected, I have no doubt, to explain 
how, if the soul never sleeps, we have not always some vision to 
employ our waking consideration. 

I imagine, it is here, that in order to remember the vision of our 
soul, it is necessary for the connecting link between it and the body, 
viz. the mind, to be in full activity ; although possessing its powers of 
memory from the eternal nature of its superior, and companion, 
the soul ; thus rendering it no difficulty to the mind to retain the re- 
miniscence of its own dream, as the soul never sleeps ; which asser- 
tion may receive additional confirmation from the following argument ; 
that were it only for one single moment to be unconscious of its exis- 
tence, this would at once break in upon its eternal principle, as being 
a suspension of its powers, and which cannot happen to Eternity ; 
it is the slumber of the mind and not the soul, therefore, which causes 
forgetfulness. 

It may here be said, that the body in a state of sleep though uncon- 
scious yet still is living ; why, then, should the spirit be deemed to 
have lost its eternity merely if it were to slumber for a short period? 
I answer, what difference is there between the sleeping and the dead 
man ? they are both alike helpless and unconscious ; but the immor- 
tal soul is present with one, but departed the other ; whereby the one 
is still alive, whilst the other has lost all vital principle. 

Confused dreams proceed, I should imagine, from the circumstance 
of both soul and mind being engaged on different subjects ; and thus 
on waking, we have mixed and undefined recollections of each. 

Other animals besides man (if closely observed) evidently dream, 
and which proceeds from their minds, they having no soul. 

Thus, I think it highly probable, that angels or good spirits instil, 



106 NOTES TO CANTO III. 

us during sleep with pleasing- and pious dreams and visions, whilst the 
contrary proceed from evil agents. 

I shall have to refer to this subject again in notes to Canto VII. 
at the Creation of Man ; when I shall endeavour to prove from 
dreams, not only the immortality, but immateriality of the soul. 



Page 89, line 1. 

" And now by name of Heaven be thou call'd, 
For in similitude thou hast been framed 
Of that high dwelling, where is fiord my throne. ," 

As the exclusive dwelling of God and his angels is called Heaven, 
it would seem strange that the firmament which is to "pass away" 
should have had the same name given it, unless from its similiarity 
in composition to the everlasting abode of bliss. I have therefore 
represented it as composed of the light of God's eye, and the breath 
of his bosom ; and which two essences are no doubt as much the 
source of life and happiness to the immortals as to mortality; and 
thus are formed the lower heavens or those of time, in contradistinc- 
tion to the higher and eternal, or Heaven of Heavens. 



Page 90, line 23. 

" Shall in your waitings oftentimes be heard 

With shrieking laugh to clap his fiendish wings" 

This is of course merely a poetical idea, and I must claim a " Poet's 
license " for it ; yet as I object, in toto, to all imagination that has not 
probability for a groundwork, it may be as well to state, that as from 
various passages in the Bible (of which I have quoted some from the 
Book of Job, in former notes), we may infer that Satan causes storms 
and other sorrows to mankind ; it seems possible that those unusual and 
terrific sounds we occasionally hear amid the tempest's din, come from 



NOTES TO CANTO III, 107 

the presiding Daemon of devastation, as they cannot be from God ; for 
in the general tempest at which Elijah was present, mentioned in the 
first book of Kings and the nineteenth chapter, verses eleven and 
twelve, it is there asserted that " the Lord was not in the wind ;" " the 
Lord was not in the earthquake ; " u the Lord was not in the fire,'' 
but was " a still small voice." 



Page 91, line 11. 

" And now my ministers,— for such must be 
All in the cycle of Infinitude,' — 
TFliich, tho'' apparently producing ill 
In many of their most appalling acts, 
Yet ever shall be working to the end 
Of good, of glory, and of holiness." — 

All things, more or less, are the ministers of God, as none can act 
without his permission. Men are very apt to accuse him (if not in 
word, in heart) of Cruelty for allowing calamities to invade them ; 
whereas, upon looking back upon our lives, we generally find that the 
very occurences which seemed to oppose our happiness, has brought 
it about ; and should there be some in which we cannot perceive at 
present any benefit, the developement has yet to happen ; if not in this 
world, certainly in the next ; it is utterly impossible for the Almighty 
to do, or to suffer to be done, that which is not for ultimate good to 
some one or in some way. 



Page 92, line 2. 

" And last the North, which being opposite 
The South will index its meridian.'''' 

The North being the opposite point to the South, determines the 
sun's meridian and various degrees of altitude. 



108 NOTES TO CANTO III. 

Page 94, line 12. 

" For thou shalt insurmountably oppose 
Such baneful intercourse to holy minds P — 

It appears probable, that as God is merciful, the " gulph " spoken 
of by Abraham when addressing- Dives, was not placed between 
Heaven and Hell, so much for the purpose of shutting out all possi- 
bility of relief to the damned, as to prevent the bad effects that any 
intercourse with the fallen might produce : and since Satan had once 
seduced numberless angels to their ruin, it was not unlikely he might 
attempt the same again. And as it is generally supposed that it is not 
constrained allegiance that pleases God ; but that proceeding from 
love to him and him alone, as there is no virtue in affection of ad- 
vantage or interest : it does appear truly probable, that the Almighty 
has removed all possibility of temptation in a future world, leaving it 
to the spontaneous feelings of each one's heart to be true to him. 

** My Son, give me thine heart."— Pnov. xxiii. 26. 
He well knowing the weakness of all created beings, for 
" His angels he charged with folly ."—Job iv. 18. 



Page 94, line 20. 

" Thou art become the Ocean of the Blest, 
The sea stupendous of Immensity" — 

It is impossible to enter into explanations in poetry without dimi- 
nishing the musical effect ; and therefore, I have adopted this method 
of explanatory notes ; as it would be a source of sincere grief to me 
were I unintelligible. 

This gulph, or these " waters " which were u divided from the 
waters,' 1 are intended by the above lines, to answer to the Heaven 
of Heavens, the same purpose and appearance that the great Pacific 
Ocean, and other seas do to this our globe : thus, forming in every 
respect a celestial world from which the terrestial was modelled. 



NOTES TO CANTO TIT. 109 

Page 95, line 19. 

There stood the Heavenly City, through tvhose gates, 

Alone could any thing created pass 

Or ere repass from boundlessness to space. 

It appears strange, if an impassable gulph were fixed between 
Heaven and Hell, that angels or devils could, as texts of Scripture 
prove, have passed from their own dwelling to the other. Witness 
for instance, Satan's approach to God, to be allowed to tempt Job ; 
and the contention between Michael and him for the body of Moses ; 
as also the prophesied binding of him by that angel for a thousand 
years. It appears, therefore, probable that the only ingress or egress, 
is through one of the many gates spoken of in the Scriptures, as 
appertaining to the Holy City and which City is generally con- 
sidered to mean the Heaven of Heavens. 



Page 95, line 22. 

And rounding ''bout and downwards to below 
The gulph ; — in spherical conformity. — 

If a man were placed upon a very lofty tower, in the centre of 
an island, the sea would appear to form an immense circle around 
him, bounded by the horizon, of which he would form the central 
point ; and a ship approaching him from beyond the horizon, would 
prove the waters' rotundity, from first showing the mast head, the top- 
sail, and so on to the full vessel : thus, it is intended, that from the 
Heavenly City, the view of the watery gulph of Infinitude should 
have the same appearance. 

The whole description of the Heaven of Heavens I found im- 
possible to be given in poetry so as to be clear and intelligible to young 
minds ; and on that account have I thought it necessary to add so 
many notes respecting it. 

Many, I have no doubt, would think it beneath the object of an 
Epic Poem, to be understandable to the youthful generation ; but 



110 NOTES TO CANTO III. 

when we consider how much depends upon them, and of what conse- 
quence it is to form their ideas it becomes desirable to convey 
instruction by the most exalted, although at the same time, the clearest 
method possible. 



Page 96, line 1. 

Which thus composed one vastly ponderous orb, 
Doom 'd to endure for all Eternity ; 
And which within its womb was to contain 
The mighty framework of the Universe; 
Worlds enclosed by Heaven ! Space by Extent ! 
Time by Eterne ! — Creation by its God ! ! ! 

In the above lines, also by way of explanation, the Heaven of 
Heavens is represented as an immense sphere or globe, similar to, 
although innumerable times greater than our Earth; the waters above 
the waters, i.e. above the firmament, answering to our seas, oceans, &c\ 
This globe containing internally the Universe in the same way as 
the world does fire or some other element; supposing in fact, that 
we and all the hosts of stars we see, and those even beyond any 
power of vision, are but the interior of one vast orb, of which the 
Heaven of Heavens is the exterior or circumscribing boundary. 

If I am requested for a reason for this idea, I say, that if a believer 
was asked, what think you is beyond all worlds towards the East ? 
he would answer, Heaven : what towards the West ? Heaven : what 
North? Heaven: South? Heaven: what directly above your head? 
Heaven : what at the Antipodes to that point ? Heaven : meaning 
of course, by such term, always the exclusive dwelling of God and 
the holy ones. If then, the Heaven of Heavens thus surround us, the 
above seems the best method of explaining their conformation ; all 
beyond their bounds, being the sky of Infinitude. 



CANTO IV. 



rt And God said, let the waters under the heaven be gathered together unto one place, and 
*" let the dry land appear : and it was so. 

" And God called the dry land earth; and the gathering together of the waters called he 
" seas : and God saw that it was good. 

" And God said, let the earth bring forth grass, the herb yielding seed, and the fruit tree 
•'yielding fruit after his kind, whose seed is in itself, upon the earth: and it was so." — 
Gen. i. 9 to 11. 

" And every plant of the field before it was in the earth, and every herb of the field 
" before it grew : for the Lord God had not caused it to rain upon the earth, and there was 
" not a man to till the ground. 

" But there went up a mist from the earth, and watered the whole face of the ground."— 
Gen. ii. 5 and 6. 

" And the earth brought forth grass, and herb yielding seed after his kind, and the tree 
" yielding fruit, whose seed was in itself, after his kind : and God saw that it was good. 

"And the evening and the morning were the third day."— Gen. i. 12 and 13. 



ARGUMENT. 



Chaos no longer spread throughout the gulph, being collected in 
the centre of Immensity; is described as to its ingredients. — God en- 
veloped in his pillar of fire, descends towards the central point of 
Infinity; Chaos receding as he advances, revolves at length in a 
mighty circle around him. — God addresses it as it rolls on. — He 
desires the waters to assemble and the dry land to appear. — They 
accordingly in billows dash over one another and wash up the earth, 
forming thereby their depths. — Thus they soon produce the hills and 
cliffs upon their margins, whilst Hell curtailed in size by means of 
an earthquake obtains its former range, and thereby throws up the 
mountains. — God disparts the various strata of the land, and declares 
their future properties, and then gives the whole the name of Earth. 
— He next addresses to the waters his commands, and calls them seas 
and rivers. — God pronounces the Earth and Waters to be good, bless- 
ing them. — He then surveys the barren soil, which from the effect of 
the internal fire and external heat, is cracked in furrows. — He com- 
mands a mist to go up from the waters and moisten the land. — 
Accordingly it ascends on the side farthest from God's refulgent 
rays, and forms into clouds, but floating round, it melting, falls, 
receiving from God's essence the generating principle. — It thus sinks 
into the ready made trenches. — Upon Jehovah shining in full and 
unclouded splendour again, it springs up into life.— Thus the land 
soon becomes covered with vegetation of all sorts, and being blessed 
by God, the evening and the morning form the third day. 



CANTO FOURTH, 



Wbt ctreatioin 



Twice round had Chaos turn'd, beneath the beams 
Of God, enveloped in a blaze of light ; 
Which now no longer spread throughout the gulph 
With vast expansion, but collected lay 
In the deep centre of Immensity ; — 
Remaining yet both rancorous and foul : — 
Since what ingredients had form'd the parts 
Component of this dark and putrid mass, 
Which soon was destined to assume the cast 
Of beauty, shapen from deformity. 
The portion most obnoxious, was the slime 
Which owed existence to the blasphemies 
Of Satan, as from Heaven down he dash'd. 
Another was despondency's thick slough 
And useless cries of anguish from the damn'd. 
i 2 



114 THE CREATION. [Canto IV. 

Some generated by the curses dealt 

In quick abundance on each other's heads. 

And some of liquid kind the briny tears, 

Which fell in torrents from the falling ones 

As headlong hmTd, or some allotments left 

Of tainted waves, from waters which now flowed 

Above the Firmament ;— apart from sin. 

The remnant had for origin the crime 

And foolishness, which constantly went up 

From Hell, until the Lord in swaddling band 

Of its own wickedness encompass'd it. 

Thus had this deadly body ta'en its birth, 
So shortly to become the living world : 
Nor was it strange, as some do e'en suppose, 
In that sad day when Satan mutinied, 
A third part fell of Heaven's habitants : — 
But whether such conjecture's right or no 
It matters not, for sure their numbers were 
Incalculable, and so huge their forms, 
That but one tear from each of them became 
A flood, as weeping down to Hell they rush'd : — 
Nor was it wonderful that they should be 
Enclosed, by that which they themselves begot, 



Canto IV.J THIRD DAY. 115 

Since th' Immortals have power to contract 

Or to expand, as the occasion needs ; 

And thus their torments were increased the more, 

As concentrated agony was theirs. 

And now the blazing column which contained 
The One Omnipotent, commenced descent 
T' wards the great centre of Infinitude ; 
And as it nearer to that point progress^, 
The sinful heap which had thus long retain'd 
Position there, began receding from 
The spot, in which begotten it had been : — 
For what that is impure can dare approach 
The God of purity, or station keep 
When he advances in unclouded light 
And unveil'd majesty ; — so could this too 
No standing hold, but giving way, stopp'd not 
Until it reached a fitting distance from 
His pure refulgence ; then began it, on 
Its axis turning, swiftly to perform 
A mighty circle round the All Supreme, 
Of equidistant radius from Him 
As central mark ; and as it onwards moved, 
Jehovah thus the rolling bulk address'd : 



116 THE CREATION. [Canto IV. 

" Oh thou ! — which in thy hollow womb confines 
Satan and Hell with all its rebel crew ; 
While time shall last expect not to regain 
Thy lost locality ; — for 'tis not fit 
Thou should'st become the centre, around which 
The future noble Universe shall turn : 
For that vast purpose I'll create an orb 
Receiving lustre from myself direct ; 
From which thou ever shall be kept aloof 
As now, determined by my Sov'reign will." 

So spake Almightiness ; and then exclaim'd, 
" Ye waters which below the Heavens are 
Conjointly one with yon chaotic globe, 
Assemble now and to some haunts retire, 
And quickly let the firm dry land appear : 
The briny tears of angels they shall be 
One sort distinct of liquid element ; — 
Whilst parts deserted by the gulph above 
Another flowing nature shall assume." 

Scarce had Supremacy such order giv'n, 
When hoarsely roaring waves and billows dash'd 
One o'er the other, washing up the soil ; 



Canto TV.] THIRD DAY. 117 

Self-cleansing and establishing their depths ; 

Thus soon their efforts had produced the hills 

And lofty cliffs, which on their margin stood : 

When Hell externally reduced in size 

And inwardly compress'd by outward weight, 

In order to obtain its former range, 

With quake convulsive threw the mountains up. 

Thus were the valleys shaped, through which began 

To run fleet rivers and meand'ring streams, 

Which owed their being to the portions left 

Of floods celestial, — whilst ocean raged 

With the salt weepings of rebellious eyes. 

Soon as Jehovah saw that his commands 
Had been obeyed ; and now two elements 
Distinct were formM, where there had been before 
But dark confusion ;— -with fore-knowledge next 
He each predestined, and began to mark 
Their sev'ral orders and dispart their sorts: 
And with such power were his words replete, 
That as he spake what ere he bid appear'd. 

44 Oh thou ! — whose very origin is crime, 
Can'st thou. Oh land, aught that is good produce 



118 THE CREATION. [Canto IV, 

Until from taint thou hast been purified ; 
No, — tis impossible, — my laws forbid, — 
And I am just and cannot break their rule. 
Then be those portions of thy noisome heap 
Which teem with Satan's fouler blasphemies, 
Straightway coagulated and congeal'd. 

" Come forth thou rock, thy sterile breast shall cause 
No herb to blossom and no flower bloom ; 
In thee nutrition never shall be found 
Of vegetative principle innate ; — 
But stand an emblem of the harden'd soul 
Of Him, to whom thy being thou dost owe. 
Till man offends thy barren brow shall face 
The noonday light, as at thy basement flows 
The azure deep serene ; but when he falls, 
War with the winds, or with the tossing flood 
Make stormy conflict and the terror be 
Of him, as o'er the turgid main convey 'd 
In some frail work of his own sinful hands. 
Then on thy summit seated will the fiend 
With hellish satisfaction yell applause ; 
When 'gainst thee dash'd the fragile hope is lost:, 
And lifeless carcases around thee float. 



Canto IV.] THIRD DAY. 119 

" And next thou ! — which existence hast obtain 1 *! 
From curses of the fallen ones, assume 
A hard consistency of varied kinds ; 
Which hidden from the human ken shall lie 
Conceal'd, unsought for, until sin disclose 
Their secret places, and shall mould their ore 
In num'rous forms, to tempt and to destroy. 

" And thou ! — which hast from folly had thy source. 
When in perdition's flames the wicked lay 
Boasting their prowess, and accusing each 
The other of the crime which blasted all : 
Do thou become an unproductive sand, 
Which soon as winds shall blow and billows roll, 
Shall by the first be hurried thro" the air, 
Or by the second to and fro be borne. 

" And lastly thou ! — which to my perfect eye 
Art less offensive ; since thou hast derived 
Thy being, from the cries of agony 
From falling angels at their lost estate ; 
And who had mercy known, had they not dared 
Ascribe to Satan, what alone belongs 
To my eternal spirit, whom I've held 



120 THE CREATION, [Canto IV, 

From all Eternity inviolate. 

Thou with fecundity shall be infused, 

And render glory to the God of life. 

" Thus have I severed thee, Oh land ! — and gave 
To each compartment its peculiar gift : 
The last of which, shall by its fruitful soil 
Enrich thy bosom with a verdant vest. 
In course of time thou also shall conceive 
Some other species, which thou hast not now : 
The burning heat within thee shall beget 
Some, which shall fire contain within themselves, 
And be a blessing or a curse, as man, 
When sinful, shall misuse or use them right. — 
And now refined and purified thou art 
Externally, since blasphemy and crime 
Have taken shapes, which never can decay, 
And with putridity infect thee more ; 
Until by sin the world shall be defiled, 
And cursed by me become again corrupt : 
Then shall all things, the mighty or the weak 
Moulder alike, and fade from off thy face.—- 
Now take thy title by the name of Earth, 
And thus be calFd until thou art no more." 



Canto IV.] THIRD DAY. 121 

So spake the Godhead, and then next address'd 
The liquid Element, which in the depths 
Of greatest magnitude had ta'en abode : — 
And that which flow'd thro 1 channels in the land, 
Or spouted down thro' fissures in the rocks. 

66 Hear this ye waters ! — as my fiVd decree ; 
Till man transgresses ye shall both remain 
Tranquil, and but the objects of delight. 
And first shalt thou, which in thy bed contains 
The briny tears of rebel angels' eyes, 
With innate action, purify thyself 
By full and ebbing tides from all attaint . 
Ere long, thy fruitful breast shall heaving teem 
With creatures, fitting for thy element ; — 
Whilst o'er thy face shall others wing their flight, 
Or buoyant on thy sparkling bosom float. 
But when the world shall be accursed for sin, 
Then raging toss and boil with roaring surge ; 
Wage battle with the winds, or 'gainst the rocks 

With maddenVl fury dash thy foaming waves. 

Then will humanity with horror shrink, 

And hide his vision from so dread a sight. 

When witnessing the conflict, fought between 



122 THE CREATION, [Canto It. 

Three independent powers, which have sprung 
From weepings, wailings, and Hell's blasphemies. 

" And next do thou ! — which ere by thy descent, 
In space corrupted wast by contact foul ; 
Did form a part of that bright stream, that laves 
Th' eternal banks of highest Heaven's shores : 
Do thou a running action take, to cleanse 
And reinstate thy former purity ; — 
As also be a source of happiness 
To guiltless man, as in thy gentle flood 
He dives, or stoops to snatch the cooling draught. 
Thou also soon shall breed a living host 
Of beings, suited to thyself alone ; — 
Some inwardly shall dwell, whilst others ride 
Upon thy tranquil countenance, or skim 
Thy rippling surface with impunity. 
But times shall be when thou shalt be defiled, 
And stead of freshness, offer stagnant filth 
To those who seek thee to allay their thirst : 
Yet this shall happen not, until by crime 
The world becomes infected and impure. 
Be thou named Rivers, whilst the waves saline 
Shall by distinction of the Seas be known, 



Canto IV.] THIRD DAY. 123 

" And now Oh Earth and Waters ! I bestow 
My blessing on ye,— since ye now are free 
From all uncleanness, — and so, being pure 
Before my presence, I declare ye good." 

So spake the Great Creator, who survey 'd 
The barren soil, which now both hard and dry 
With many a furrow crack'd from inward heat, 
Or that which shone upon it from without ; 
And wise beyond compare thus gave command : 

" Let there a vapour rise from off the main, 
And drop down fatness in the yawning gaps, 
That moistening, it may impregn the soil 
And sow it thick with vegetative life : — 
Then let the land forthwith engender grass, 
The grainy herb, the flower, and the bulb ; 
The lofty tree with fruit containing seed ; 
The lowly shrub, and the more humble rush ; 
Nor longer wrinkled and ungarbM remain, 
But smile with variegated beauty clad." 

Scarce had the Deity made known his will, 
When from the ocean and swift currents, rose 



124 THE CREATION. [Canto IV. 

Ascending steam, which as it reached the skies 
Conglomerated into darkling clouds ; 
And there concreted, since in colder range 
Than that it left ; — for so the mist went up, 
On that side farthest from the ray of God ; 
But floating round upon the buxom air, 
Came soon beneath his thawing beams of light ; 
And melting fell, to water all the earth, 
As on upon its axis turn'd the world. 

Soon had the falling moisture, — which possessed 
The generating principle inert ; — 
Into the ready trenches sinking, drawn 
With traily path the humid land along ; 
And cover'd in beneath the surface, lay 
Awaiting to be quicken'd into life. 
When now, the nebulous expanse reclear'd, 
The Great Supreme refulgent blazed again ; 
And with his warmth invigorating, shone 
With genial and vivifying heat. 
And first the soil began to crack, and heave 
Up crumbling hillocks, as tho' something moved ; 
And next emerging from these mounds, peep'd up 
The yellow points of many a speary head : 



Canto IV.] THIRD DAY. 125 

Then riving, quick assumed a verdant hue, 
And putting forth its leaves, declared its kind.— 
Soon were the mountains and the valleys dressed 
In flower-spotted garb, with ground of green : 
And on the hills uprose the waving woods ; 
Whilst in the dales the shrubberies shot forth : 
And serpent rivers and meand'ring streams, 
Now wash'd the banks of Nature's rich parterres; — 
And gardens blossoming with native pride. 
Here stood the sturdy Oak, a humble type 
Of its Creator's strength ; and there the Palm 
And Olive, emblems of victVy and peace. 
Here had the noble Beech uprear'd its crown 
Beside the towering Poplar, which appear'd 
Raising its peak above surrounding trees. — 
The twain-faced Alder by a rivulet 
Had taken root, and on the other side 
The graceful Willow kiss'd the limpid wave ; 
Altho' 'twas not as yet the weeping form, 
Bemoaning in the winds the curse since pass'd 
Upon its mother earth ; but dipping, danced 
In playful dalliance with the rippling flood. 
The Larch and Pine undevious t' wards the skies, 
Vied with each other, pointing to their God. 



126 THE CREATION. [Canto IV. 

And branching Chestnuts in extended groves 
Shed their cool shadows on all objects round. 

Removed afar were trees of other sort, 
And suited to the region where they grew : 
And first the Banyan, which had scarce spread out 
With more than common range its lovely arms ; 
When down dropp'd tendrils from the fruitful boughs, 
And took their root ; — while still unsever'd from 
Their fertile parent, they drew nourishment, 
And soon sprang up again with rival grace, 
Until they also should have progeny. 
The Plantain and Pomegranate next appeared, 
In neighVring friendship with the Cocoa-nut : — 
And broad-leaf d Sassafras with yellow bloom ; 
Or fragrant Cinnamon declared itself: — 
And fair Palmetto, formal by Nature's hand 
To fan the weary with expanded leaves, 
Beneath the burnings of a tropic sun. — 
The wond'rous Guava too, design'd to bear 
Fruit in the full, the blossom, and the bud, 
All simultaneously, and which but opes 
Its tender flowrets to the orb of day ; 
Diffusing odour to the passing breeze. 



Canto IV.] THIRD DAY. 127 

Along a lawny flat in rows, were spread 
The ruddy Apple and the juicy Pear ; 
The scented Quince, the yellow Apricot, 
Or rosy Nectarine or downy Peach ; 
The purple Plum, the ruby Cherry too, 
Or melting Fig and Mulberry was there : 
And many others, which were doom'd to thrive 
In only certain portions of the soil. 

And far away, the Orange tree was mixM 
With the sweet-scented Citron and the Lime ; 
Or giant Aloe with the Carica : 
And there Mimosa flourish'd, having yet 
No cause of fear from sinful mortal's touch : 
And all were harmless, since no poison'd plant, — 
Save One ! — had taken root within the ground, 
Nor could while man continued innocent. 

In thick-set clumps, the Laurel and the Broom, 
The Rhododendron and Acuba grew : 
Or in a varied bed of blooming tint, 
Sprang up the Rose., the Lily, and the Bell, 
The Hyacinth and modest Violet, 
And fair Narcissus bending o'er the brook, 

K 



128 THE CREATION. [Canto IV 

To view reflected its own love-lorn face : 

With thousands more, which earth an altar made ; 

Emitting fragrant incense to its God. 

And now Omnipotence, with sacred joy 
Beheld the work of his own mightiness ; 
And in zephyral breath his blessing gave ? 
So soft, so gentle, that the forest leaf 
But slightly trembled with the melody. 
Thus was another journey at an end 
Of perfect revolution by the world ; 
Which now no longer was an ugly clod 
Of foul corruption, but a lovely spot :— - 
So e'en and morn completed the third day. 



END OF CANTO IV, 



NOTES. 



CANTO IV. 

Page 114, line 19. 

and so huge their forms. 

There is little doubt that the angels are of enormous size ; their 
high calling — their being the constant attendants upon that Being who 
has no limit within infinity; — as also from various visions of the 
favoured in the Bible ; none being stronger than St. John's, who saw 
a might}- angel set his right foot upon the sea and his left upon the 
earth, and swear by him that liveth for ever and ever, that there 
should be time no longer. — Rev. x. 



Page 115, line 1. 

Since th? Immortals have power to contract 

Or to expand, as the occasion needs ; 

This is not exactly a novel idea, but it requires, nevertheless, some 

proof ; and the following will, T think, suffice : 

" And when he was come out of the ship, immediately there met him out of the tombs a 
man with an unclean spirit, 



" He said unto him, come out of the man thou unclean spirit : 

" And he asked him, what is thy name ? and he answered saying, my name is Legion, for 
we are many ."—Mark v. 2—9, 



130 NOTES TO CANTO IV. 

Here were many unclean spirits, or devils, assembled in one man, 
and which, after leaving him, entered into and filled a whole herd of 
swine, proving thereby their powers of contraction and expansion. 



Page 116, line 1. 

" Oh thou ! — which in thy hollow womb confines 
Satan and Hell with all its rebel crew" 

The reader will long ere this have felt no doubt desirous of know- 
ing the object in view, in thus representing Hell as being surrounded 
from time to time by various matter, and wound up in description by 
the above extracted lines. 

It will be remembered that in the First Canto, when God is declar- 
ing to the faithful angels his future plans, that he says of the world, 

" One spot alone, in outward semblance pure 
But inwardly inhabited by sin 
Shall be the scene of trouble and despair." 

These lines, which must have appeared vague in the First Canto, are 
now explained in the Third, they referring to Hell's forming the centre 
of the earth ; an idea which I consider (as I feel certain the reader 
already does) requires some explanation and argument. 

Were I to apply to the generally-received opinion in ancient time 
for support of this theory, the question would be decided in my favour; 
but as such opinion was in general but the belief of Heathens, and as 
I consider their tenets never can be used in proof, although they may 
occasionally as auxiliaries, of the Christian Faith, I shall proceed at 
once to draw my conclusions from the Bible itself, and then shew in 
what way Heathenism is confirmatory of such conclusions. 

The following text is almost sufficient for my purpose. 
" For a fire is kindled in mine anger, and shall burn unto the lowest hell, and shall con- 
sume the earth with her increase, and set on fire the foundations of the mountains." — 
Djeut. xxxii. 22. 

Here God evidently speaks of Hell as being at the " foundations of 
the mountains," or else how could it set them on fire ; as also it appears 



NOTES TO CANTO IV, 131 

likely it could not " consume the Earth with her increase," unless near 
the Earth, either interiorly or exteriorly : now 'we cannot perceive 
externally, or on the face of the world, any thing- which can give 
us the idea that Hell is any where situated in the firmament or 
upon the surface of the Earth ; and, therefore, it seems truly probable 
it is fixed internally. The following extracts from Revelations gives 
additional force to this idea, and to the above quotation from Deu- 
teronomy : 

*' And the fifth angel sounded, and I saw a star fall from heaven unto the earth, and to 
him was given the key of the bottomless pit. 

" And he opened the bottomless pit ; and there arose a smoke out of the pit> as the 
smoke of a great furnace;" 

******** 
" And there came out of the smoke locusts upon the earth." 

******** 

"And they had a king over them which is the angel of the bottomless pit, whose name 
in the Hebrew tongue is Abaddon, but in the Greek tongue hath his name Apollyon."— 
Rev. ix. 1 — 11. 

What can be stronger than the above ? Hell is evidently meant by 
the bottomless pit ; and the Devil is spoken of as the ruler of the 
locusts which are to come out of it upon the earth ; as also the star 
falls from heaven to where ? — not to the sun, moon, or other stars, nor 
any unknown place in Infinitude ; but to the earth ; clearly proving 
this "bottomless pit," in fact, Hell, to be spoken of as centred in the 
earth. 

We now come to the probability of such idea from the occasional 
phenomena of the earth itself. Geologists have never yet agreed as to 
what forms the centre of our globe ; some have said fire ; some water ; 
and some nothing- at all ; the two first are most likely both correct, 
and in this way, the very centre i. e. the core, fire, the next layer, 
water, and then the various strata, until the vegetative portion forms 
the outward crust. No one has yet been able to assign the true reason 
of volcanoes and earthquakes ; but yet they never seem to imagine 
it can be Hell that causes these effects ; they cannot suppose for a mo- 
ment this beautiful world contains internally, the very acme of crime, 
no more than they could imagine the form of a very lovely woman 



132 NOTES TO CANTO IV. 

enclosed a vile heart ; but we know the latter is not unfrequent, and 
therefore the former is quite as possible. 

As the world according to universal prophesy is ultimately to be 
burned with fire, it appears from the visions in the Revelations that 
Hell will be that fire, and will thus open its jaws for the reception of 
the wicked at the last day. 

It is also singular what easy passage the Devil always seems to have 
had to the world, and which appears more likely his habitation, being 
in its very centre, than if he were removed beyond the bounds of 
space. Thus at the fall he had been lying in wait for man's de- 
struction, and which would hardly have been the case had he (as a 
certain Poet represents) had to make a long journey from nobody 
knows where, watched on all sides by angels and even by God himself, 
and when arrived to prevent his having so troublesome a journey 
again, two kind friends built him a bridge back to this immeasurably 
distant Hell, and ivhich was not thrown down, as would be supposed, 
by the world moving in its orbit. 

Some have contended that Hell means the grave, this is absurd, since 
David says — 

" Thou wilt not leave my soul in Hell, neither wilt thou suffer thine holy one to see cor- 
ruption.**— Psalm xvi. 10. 

Here corruption refers to the body and grave, as the immaterial 
soul we know cannot be so affected ; and, therefore, David could never 
have spoken of the soul being rescued from that power which could 
not retain it. It is truly sorrowful to see the trouble that is taken even 
by the well-meaning to distort Scripture : the whole object appears 
not to explain texts, but to render them useless and foolish, and thus, 
piecemeal, diminish the authenticity of the Scriptures. 

We now come to the ideas of the ancients on this subject, and which 
can only be used as auxiliary, not as confirmatory, of this theory. In 
all the Greek and Roman writers, Hell is represented as situated in 
the centre of the Earth : witness the descent of iEneas, and some 
others. "Etna, Vesuvius, and other burning mountains, as so many 
vents for the flames, caused by forging the thunderbolts of Jove, i. e. 
the " kindled wrath " of the god. 



NOTES TO CANTO IV. 133 

Now, although the Heathen nations had lost the most essential of 
all beliefs to the soul — that of the one and only God, — yet there is 
no doubt but many of their stories were founded upon Scriptural facts 
which had been handed down to them from their ancestors who had 
been true believers ; and when having in the long course and changes 
of tradition lost the true tale, and there being no priest of God to put 
them right, they still believing the legend, but having taken false 
gods, in order to make all agree, adapted the original histories to the 
tenets of their then religion : and thus are we enabled to trace so 
many analogous relations in the mythology to the Bible. The feats 
of Hercules and Samson in many instances are exactly the same ; but 
the story which bears directly upon the present note is that of the 
battle between the Gods and Giants. Some have thought this was a 
confused relation of the building of Babel ; as the Giants are repre- 
sented to have piled mountains on mountains in order to reach 
heaven ; but I am inclined to think it referred to the fall of Lucifer 
and his angels, although misplaced as to date ; as people in ignorance 
are as likely to make one error as another. Thus, I look upon it, that 
they having lost the fact that the Devils fell previous to the Creation, 
not being able to understand how any set of beings could attack 
heaven but from the earth, made up the above story. 

And now comes the agreement between the legend of the Giants and 
their punishment, and this idea of Hell. They were struck down by 
thunderbolts to the earth, the mountains which they had heaped up 
with their ruins covering them ; some were considered still to exist, and 
when turning on their weary sides beneath the weight which oppressed 
them, to cause various earthly phenomena : so Lucifer with his fol- 
lowers falling like lightning from Heaven are represented in this 
Poem as causing Chaos, are buried ultimately in its centre, and when 
the earth is formed still retain their wretched existence, and en- 
veloped by the flames which there is little doubt forms the interior 
of our globe, are imprisoned by substances which in a crude state 
owed their origin to them. 

It is but fair to suppose that the reader may imagine the idea of 
Chaos was taken from the tradition of the Giants ; but, I can assure 



1.34 NOTES TO CANTO IV. 

him, it never struck me until writing this note, written long after the 
whole Poem was concocted, as I have too little reverence for Heathen 
lore, to take even an idea from any of their writers ; as the improba- 
ble stories they relate do not speak so much in favour of their com- 
mon sense as some of their admirers give them credit for. 

From the Bible and the Bible alone, do I profess to form my imagi- 
nation, and have throughout discarded every supposition that could 
not be well borne out by texts from that sacred volume. 



Page 116, line 16. 

" The briny tears of angels they shall be 
One sort distinct of liquid element; "' — 
Many have been the suppositions as to what causes the saltness of 
the sea ; some have thought it was so created, in order to preserve it 
from putridity ; others, that the rivers carried salt into it from the 
interior of the land ; and others, that the ocean rolled over beds of 
salt ; however, as we know from ourselves that our tears are strongly 
impregnated with brine, it seems but in keeping with the rest of this 
poem, that the sea should have origin from the briny weepings of the 
rebellious angels. 



Page 117, line 7- 

With quake convulsive threw the mountains up. 

When the Almighty commanded " the waters under the heaven to 
be gathered together into one place," and" the dry land to appear," it 
follows that they must have formed deep hollows in order to prevent 
flowing back again, and would thus curtail in size whatever formed the 
centre of this terraqueous globe. If Hell was that centre, it seems 
probable that it would endeavour to regain its former dimensions, and 
would produce that which is called in the present day an Earthquake, 
and thus throw up the ground in irregular masses : an idea which is 



NOTES TO CANTO IV. 135 

favoured from the circumstance of so many mountains being more or 
less volcanic. Besides, it is a curious fact, that when Vesuvius or any 
other burning- mountains are throwing out their flames, the sea for 
miles around is agitated, and in cases of earthquake, to a most alarm- 
ing degree : proving the connection that must exist between the two. 



Page 118, line 7. 

" Come forth thou rock, thy sterile breast shall cause 
No herb to blossom and no flower bloom ; " 

It is not impossible but that some religious persons might object to 
the above idea, of the portions of Chaos which were tainted by the 
blasphemies of Satan being turned into rock ; from the circumstance 
of the Almighty comparing himself to " a rock ;" but let it be remem- 
bered that He is " the rock of ages" and that whenever the word is 
used in a good sense, it refers in some way or other to this " spiritual 
rock" viz. " the rock of our salvation ;" " God is my only rock ;" 
" upon this rock will I build my church ;" inferring to Peter's faith. 
On the contrary, when the material rock is intended in the Bible, it 
is almost invariably censured ; of which the first of the following texts 
is rather curious, from the circumstance of the serpent and the rock 
being represented as so closely allied. 

" The way of a serpent upon a rock."— Prov. xxx. 19. 

" They have made their faces harder than a rock." — Jer. v. 3. 

"lam against thee, O inhabitant of the valley and rock of the plain, saith the Lord." — 
Jer. xxi. 13. 

" Is not my word like as a fire ? saith the Lord ; and like a hammer that breaketh the rock 
in pieces ?" — Jer. xxiii. 29. 

" And they shall destroy the walls of Tyrus, and break down her towers ; I will also 
scrape her dust from her, and make her like the top of a rock."— Ezek. xxvi. 4. 

" And some fell upon a rock, and as soon as it was sprung up, it withered away, because it 
lacked moisture." — Luke viii. 6. 

It would seem, therefore, that God represented himself as a spiritual 
rock, for the purpose of proving that he was the only power that could 
be depended upon, and not in order to pass any encomium on the bar= 
ren substance itself ; indeed, when Moses struck the rock and water. 



136 NOTES TO CANTO IV. 

gushed out, it was a miracle in order to demonstrate that the Omni- 
potent could out of evil produce good: a doctrine that is endeavoured 
to be inculcated by this Poem. 

To animadvert upon this substance is unnecessary, suffice it to say 
that the mariner dreads it ; the husbandman finds it useless ; and it is 
only serviceable when altered in shape by the chisel, or hollowed out 
for foundations by the architect, proving that all things may be by pro- 
per means rendered useful. 



Page 119, line 1. 

" And next thou ! — which existence hast obtained 
From curses of the fallen ones, assume 
A hard consistency of varied kinds : " 

Gold, silver, iron, and other metals in the hands of the virtuous 
may be made a blessing ; but I believe it is pretty generally agreed by 
the wise and good, that they are much oftener a curse than other- 
wise : witness the idols raised at various periods of the world; also 
murders, thefts, war, gambling, and all manner of abominations. 



Page 119, line 12. 

"Do thou become an unproductive sand." 

This substance is represented as originating with the foolish boast- 
ings and recriminations of the Devils when in Hell. Job compares 
his troubles (which, as we have before seen, were caused by the fruit- 
less attempts of Satan, to turn that good and patient man from his 
God) to the u sand of the sea;" and Solomon thus speaks of a fool's 
anger r — 

" A stone is heavy, and the sand weighty ; but a fool's wrath is heavier than them both."— 
Prov. xxvii. 3. 

and its unserviceableness is described in the following text : — ■ 

" And every one that heareth these sayings of mine, and docth them not, shall be likened 
un to a foolish man, which built his house upon the sand. : '— Mat, vii. 26. 



NOTES TO CANTO IV. 137 

Page 120, line 2. 

" Thou with fecundity shall be infused, 
And render glory to the God of life.' 1 '' 

This (which it will be remembered, was impregnated with the cries 
of anguish from the Devils at their lost happiness, when falling, 
pursued by God's fire, and which was to become the productive part 
of the future world), is in accordance with the effect produced in the 
lava from Mount Vesuvius, which buried Herculaneum in the reign 
of the Emperor Titus, since in time it became fit for vegetation ; 
plants growing upon the new soil, and a new town, called Portici, 
being built upon it. 



The barren soil, which now both hard and dry 
With many a furrow crack? d 

It seems highly probable that the earth was in an arid state pre- 
vious to God ordering a mist to ascend for the purpose of watering- 
it, and which would proceed from the effect of the light that had been 
called forth, and any internal heat that might exist ; and as, in very 
dry weather, we find the land always cracked from the heat of the sun, 
as also that we know, in order to produce herbage, it is necessary to 
divide the soil, either by plough or spade, previous to sowing the 
grain, the above description, it is hoped, will be considered natural. 



Page 124, line 10. 

Soon had the falling moisture, — which possessed 
The generating principle inert ;— 

One argument of infidels against the Bible has been the disagree- 
ment, as they affirm, of the second chapter of Genesis with the first, 
Amongst other points, that in chapter ii, verse 5, it says, 



138 NOTES TO CANTO IV. 

" And every plant of the field before it was in the earth, and every herb of the field before 
it grew : for the Lord God had not caused it to rain upon the earth, and there was not a 
man to till the ground." 

Although in chapter i, verse 11, the words are 

" And God said, let the earth bring forth grass, the herb yielding seed, and the fruit tree 
" yielding fruit after his kind, whose seed is in itself, upon the earth : and it was so." 

but there is very little doubt but that the sentence "and it was so," 
refers entirely to the circumstance that God's order was ultimately 
obeyed, or that " it was so," that is, that God gave such order. 

It then naturally occurs to the mind how "every plant of the field" 
could be created " before it was in the earth," and " every herb of the 
" field before it grew." 

From the following verse, 

" But there went up a mist from the earth, and watered the whole face of the ground."— 
Gkn. h. 6. 

I draw the subjoined conclusion : that this mist, after ascending, 
received from Omnipotence the germ of life, the powers of generation, 
and then falling into the earth sprang up in the shape of vegetation ; 
an idea which is fully borne out by the circumstance, that numerous 
vegetables are produced without seed being sown, or any apparent 
cause : witness the houseleek, the diiferent kinds of moss, &c, all 
which must receive the seed, or first germ, from the rain as it falls : 
this was, indeed, the creation of " every plant of the field before it 
was in the earth, &c." 

If the reader will refer to the way in which the verses of the two 
first chapters of Genesis are adjusted, as mottos to this Canto, they 
will see how completely they agree and follow on, as though really they 
had always been intended to be so placed. 



Page 124, line 16. 

When now the nebulous expanse recleard, 
The Great Supreme refulgent blazed again ; 
After the mist had ascended and fell, it Avas necessary there 
should be a power to quicken the seed which had thus been conveyed 



NOTES TO CANTO IV. 139 

into the earth : it seems in keeping, therefore, that God should be that 
power. And in the same way, as above described, being of a like 
principle with that by which the sun gives life to all vegetation. 



Page 125, line 10. 

Here stood the sturdy Oak, a humble type 
Of its Creator's strength ; and there the Palm 
And Olive ; emblems ofvicfry and peace. 
God having given a proof of his invincibility in the conquest of 
Satan and his tribe, it seems proper that those trees should be first 
created which are emblematical of strength, victory, and, ultimately, 
the most perfect tranquillity. 

In aftertJmes, also the Oak, was to be an important tree in strength 
by sea ; the Palm to welcome a victorious Saviour ; and the Olive 
to be present at most of the important lessons for future happiness 
delivered by an allwise and affectionate God. 



Page 125, line 16. 

The twain-faced Alder, by a rivulet 
Had taken root, 

This refers to that species which is called in America the Black 
Alder, from the circumstance of the upper part of the leaf being a 
very dark green ; but I cannot think but that the name I have given 
it in the above lines would suit it better; since, although the upper part 
of the leaf is dark green the under part is almost white, by which 
means, when blown backwards and forwards by the winds, it shows 
alternately to an observer a dark and a light face. They are on this 
account used as ornaments of pleasure-grounds. All the tribe of the 
alder-tree are fond of moisture, flourishing most when near running- 
brooks or ponds. 



140 NOTES TO CANTO IV. 

Page 125, line 17. 

and on the other side 
The graceful Willow kiss'd the limpid wave ; 
Altho'' Hwas not as yet the iveeping form, 
Bemoaning in the winds the curse since pass 'd 
Upon its mother earth ; — 

The above of course is but an idea, as nothing like proof can be 
drawn from holy writ, although the following texts may be thus para- 
phrased : 

** And ye shall take you on the first day the boughs of goodly trees, branches of palm- 
trees, and the boughs of thick trees, and willows of the brook ; and ye shall rejoice before 
the Lord your God seven days." — Lkv. xxiii. 40. 

This was to be a public rejoicing by the Jews for their deliverance 
from Egypt ; they were therefore ordered to take the boughs of palm, 
and peradventure those also of the olive, as emblematical of victory 
and peace through God; whilst the willows represented their former 
calamity and weepings in a state of bondage ; and which, spiritually 
interpreted, might mean that the palm and others showed their coming 
emancipation from sin by a Saviour, whilst the willows marked the 
state in which they had been left by the fall. 

'* By the rivers of Babylon, there we sat down, yea, we wept, when we remembered 
Zion." 

" We hanged our harps upon the willows in the midst thereof.— Psalms, cxxxvii. 1, 2. 

David here chooses the willow to hang his harp upon, no longer 
attuned to joy, that tree being so truly emblematical of sorrow ; whilst, 
as the winds whistling through the boughs and sweeping o'er the 
neglected strings, an occasional plaintive strain (as though from an 
iEolian harp) would sigh forth in unison with the deep-toned grief of 
the minstrel king. 

It seems also likely, that as all things must have been happy before 
the fall, nothing having even the semblance of woe would have had 
being ; and, as there are many sorts of the willow besides the 
weeping, the probability, I submit is increased. 

This tree, also, in high winds produces a low moaning sound, per- 
haps from its elasticity instead of bending as many others do. 



NOTES TO CANTO IV, 141 

Page 126, line 5, 

And first the Banyan, ivhich had scarce spread out 
fTith more than common range its lovely arms ! 
When down dropped tendrils from the fruitful boughs, 
And took their root; 

This of all the Indian tribe of trees is the most beautiful, having 
the peculiar property of throwing out tendrils from the joints of its 
various boughs, which continue to elongate till they reach the earth; 
take root, and springing up again form other trees, which do the same, 
so that many acres are often covered in this way by originally only 
one stock. 



Page 126, line 16. 

And fair Palmetto, formed by nature 's hand 
To fan the weary with expanded leaves, 
Beneath the burnings of a tropic sun. 

This tree is a native of the West-Indies and various parts of Ame- 
rica, as also of the corresponding latitudes of Asia and Africa. It is 
remarkable from its forming a fan of five or six feet in expansion 
(shaped something like an open hand), supported by a tail or handle of 
seven or eight feet long. 



Page 126, line 19. 

The wontfvous Guava too, designed to bear 
Fruit in the full, the blossom, and the bud, 
All simultaneouly, 

This tree is extraordinary from the circumstance that it bears fruit, 
full-blown blossoms, and the mere bud or eye at the same time ; it also 
opens its flowers upon the sun rising, diffusing the most delightful 
fragrance to the atmosphere around. 



142 NOTES TO CANTO IV. 

Page 127, line 12. 

And there Mimosa flourish } d, having yet 
No came of fear from sinful mortal 's touch : 

The Mimosa or Sensitive Plant is remarkable on account of its pe- 
culiar property of retiring- from the touch. 



Page 127, line 14. 

And all were harmless, since no poison' d plant, — 
Save One / — had taken root within the ground, 
Nor could while man continued innocent, 

The One plant referred to is the Tree of Knowledge of good and 
evil, which brought death into the world : and as a proof that it was 
most likely the only one then, the following extract is given : 

" Cursed is the ground for thy sake ; in sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy 
life; 

" Thorns also and thistles shall it bring forth to thee."— Gen. iii. part of verses 17 and 18. 



Page 127, line 22. 
And fair Narcissus bending o'er the brook, 
To view reflected its own love-lorn face ; 
It is poetically told that the blossom called Narcissus took its 
name from the story of the swain who fell in love with himself 
when viewing his beautiful form in a brook, and dying from the pas- 
sion which could not be gratified, turned into the above flower ; how- 
ever, the story no doubt was invented for the flower, which flourishes 
better on the banks of a river than elsewhere, and maybe often seen 
hanging over the stream reflected in the crystal water. 



CANTO V. 



" And God said, let there be lights in the firmament of the Heaven to divide the day from 
the night ; and let them be for signs, and for seasons, and for days, and years. 

" And let them be for lights in the firmament of the Heaven to give light upon the Earth : 
and it was so. 

" And God made two great lights ; the greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light 
to rule the night : he made the stars also. 

" And God set them in the firmament of the Heaven to give light upon the Earth, 

" And to rule over the day and over the night, and to divide the light from the darkness : 
and God saw that it was good. 

" And the evening and the morning were the fourth day."— Gen. i. 14 to 19. 



ARGUMENT. 



Jehovah intending; to descend upon the earth as the un apparent 
God, addresses light as to its future sources of support. — He then 
commands the heavenly bodies to appear, declaring- their use. — First 
he calls forth the two greater luminaries, the Sun in priority, as centre 
to the rest. — Thus, at the will of God, the orb of day is begotten by 
the light which encloses Him and assumes (the Almighty ascending) 
the centre to immensity. — God, as he stands upon its uppermost con- 
vexity, bespeaks it. — He first declares its office of distinguishing day 
from night. — Then that of marking (by the revolution of the world 
about it) the four seasons. — The Lord next commands the Moon to 
appear, which bursting forth from the body of the Sun and approaching 
the Earth, at a proper distance commences its course around it.' — The 
Almighty addresses it, giving it direction for usefulness to Man, 
particularly at harvest time, and by monthly (weather) signs. — Jehovah 
commands the planets to appear, which also proceeding from the Sun, 
leave pits and falls upon its disk. — Thus the solar system is finished. 
— The Godhead next in rapid course traverses the heavens, vast globes 
of light detaching themselves as He proceeds, and forming Stars, 
which, in turn bring forth satellites to move round them as central 
suns. — First are formed the Zodiac signs, then the Constellations, 
and last the Milky Way. — God forewarns them as to their use. — 
He then commands the light, which had hitherto enveloped him, to 
depart, and which flying off assumes the shape of Comets. — The 
evening and the morning thus completing the fourth day's work. 



CANTO FIFTH 



®t>e attention. 



Thhice had Jehovah, from the blazing Orb 
Which Him enshrouded with effulgent vest, 
Survey 'd each spot of substance, as it round 
Had turned beneath his beams ; (at first commix'd 
And forming part of the deep Gulph ; and next 
Divided by the firmament, and left 
As portion of the Chaos, which within 
Contained eternal fire ; but now a World, 
No longer loathsome to the eye of God, 
But glowing with Almighty Excellence.) 
Who soon intended to depart the spot 
Which now he occupied, and make descent 
Upon the Earth — nor tangible, — nor seen, — 
Yet not unheard, — in nearer contact, there 
To prove still more the magnitude with which 
l 2 



J46 THE CREATION. [Canto V. 

His power was invested : — for as yet, 
All that created were, possessed no thought, 
No sense of feeling had, imbibed no joy 
From Nature's loveliness ; perceived no good, 
Nor satisfaction knew of sight, — smell, — taste ; — 
But mindless, — soulless, — instinct only had, 
Nor love or friendship, nor the kindred tie 
Of blood experienced ; but lived in space 
Without the consciousness of being there. 

Thus far the work Creative was advanced, 
When, with a voice replete with harmony, 
Omnipotence addressed the essence, which 
About him with unfading lustre played. 

" O thou ! — part of myself, without thy ray, 
What that is now created could survive 
A single instant ? — well hast thou obey'd 
Thy Lord's command, and with thy vital spark 
All nature fill'd ; — but whence dost thou derive 
Thy origin ? — where springs the fountain head 
Of thy refulgence ? — Is it from the East 
Thou hast thy impulse, or from yonder globe 
Which now with beauty glitters ? — Is the Deep 



Canto V.] FOURTH DAY. 147 

Thy parent, or could noisy Chaos claim 

The smallest share of glory in thy birth ?— 

No, — in the eyeball of thy God, alone 

Thy centred source supplies thy constant flame. 

Then where O light ! — when I ascend from hence 

To that abode of blessedness, in which 

My faithful Hosts of Angels wait to praise 

Their mighty Monarch, for this other proof 

Of his strict justice and unerring word ;— 

Where wilt thou get succession to thy beams ? 

Without thy Maker wilt thou shine at all ? — 

Or rather wilt thou not cling round his form, 

Unwilling to be left in space, and mount 

With him to infinite Infinitude ? — - 

No, — for a season, be content to dwell 

The bright inhabitant of lower spheres ; 

Which of such texture shall be framed to yield 

Support, for number'd ages to thy stream ; 

That when burnt out, these lamps shall be no more.- — 

Time shall itself have then attain'd its end." 

So spake the Godhead ! and forthwith exclaimed, 
With voice prolifical, — " let there be Lights 
Set in th' expanse of Heaven's firmament, 



148 THE CREATION. [Canto V. 

Whose duty — I design — shall be to cause 
A separation 'tween the Day and Night ; 
To mark the signs and seasons, days and years, 
And give illumination to the Earth. — 
Let two great luminaries first be form'd, 
Diurn the larger, and nocturn the less; — ■ 
The first intrinsic brilliancy shall shed, 
As being emanant from me direct ; — 
The last reflecting but the other's beams, 
Since not possessing lustre in itself. — 
The one the dazzling emblem of my might. 
The other milder image of my love ; — 
The former noting seasons, days, and years, 
The latter pregnant with the monthly signs. 
Besides these twain, myriads shall appear, 
Some fix'd and others traversing the skies ; 
Those giving brightness, these receiving it ; 
All ruled by my eternal providence, 
Shall ever keep the order I appoint. — 
And now the greater, first do thou assume 
Existence, as a centre to the rest." 

God spake, and lo, the radiant sphere which held 
The great Omnipotent, began ascent ;— 



Canto V.] FOURTH DAY. 149 

Forth from beneath, another shining globe 
Of smaller bulk and less refulgent light 
Emerging budded, and took up abode 
Where just before Jehovah had sojourn'd :— - 
Who from amidst his splendour, (as upon 
Its uppermost convexity he stood, 
Pre-eminently brighter) thus addressed 
The new-born glory of his mightiness. 

" Hear this O Sun ! — for by that name yclep'd 
In time to come thou shalt be ever known ; — - 
Let thy diurnal duty be, to draw 
Division 'twixt the darkness and the light ; 
And from thy inmost core to feed the flame 
Which now Creation warms, supporting it 
With quick succession ; — around thee, the World 
Upon its axis turning, will attempt 
In vain, resumption of the central point 
Of gravity, which it possess'd ere yet 
From thence ejected ; — thus compelled to roam 
For coming ages in a stated course 
About thy sacred body ; — so shalt thou 
By this same revolution mark the year, 
When Earth attains the same degree at which 



150 THE CREATION. [Canto V, 

It first commenced its journey, — so shalt thou 

Four seasons also measure in the span 

Of this revolving travel round thy beams ; 

While man is faithful, equally to him 

The harbingers of ev'ry perfect good ; — 

To him when faithless fraught with many ills, 

Altho' dispensers to his num'rous wants. 

" The first of these shall with peculiar joy 
Affect his senses, since from sterile cold 
And bleak and howling winds the happy change :— 
Then shall abundant shower-falls beget 
The land with germin pregnant ; as the seed 
Already sown within its womb, shall burst 
And springing into life, with verdure deck 
The blacken'd soil. — Then shall thy genial rays 
Impart invigorating warmth to all, 
Revive the woods, which putting forth their sap 
With foliage shall enrich the mountain sides 
And tuft the hills, or in the vales below 
Weave native wreaths of early flowerets, 
To crown the head of Nature ; when the fruits 
In embryon blossoms, shall on the trees 
Bud out their varied hues. — Then shall the race 



Canto V.] FOURTH DAY. 151 

Of feather'd minstrels, warbling, sing the praise 
Of One from whom all happiness proceeds, 
And tend their callow young, or on their wings 
Mount to the skies and wanton in the air. — 
Then shall the beast of earth stalk forth to greet 
His future mate ; — the dwellers in the seas 
Or brooks deposit spawn to multiply 
Their sev'ral kinds ; — the insect from his egg 
Emerge from gloominess to open day ; — 
The reptile cast his skin ; — nor last nor least 
Shall fallen man its benefits descry, 
But choose that period to train and dress 
The sprouting vegetation ; rooting up 
Obnoxious weeds, — or on the lofty downs 
Attend his bleating care, to watch their young 
Enfolded in some lawny dale, or drive 
The lowing herd to pasture in the glen. 

" The second season shall his labour crown 
With beauty in perfection : — then the fields 
Shall wave with full ear'd corn, and flat and ridge 
With fragrant knots of blossoms grace the breast 
Of blushing Nature ; when he in shady groves 
Will there, retiring from the noontide heat ? 



152 THE CREATION. [Canto V. 

With pleasure listen to the joyous notes 
And plaintive lays by airy songsters tuned ; 
As o'er extended plains his flocks bespread 
To browse the herbage, or by cooling streams 
Lead forth their offspring, now become adult, 
A profitable increase to his store. 
Down in the coverM dells some busy hordes, 
Of flutt'ring beings, will construct their cells, 
In which to hide for future wants, the sweets 
Of Earth's abundance ;— while the loaded tree, 
With bending branch, shall let its increase drop 
Into the lap of Plenty ; — then the hosts 
Of water's habitants shall leap with joy 
Beneath thy glance O Sun ! — or in thy beams 
In clustering crowds, the insect tribe shall sport, 
Or stretchM at length the basking reptile lie. 

" The third compartment of the year shall prove 
His greatest friend ; for then the falling leaf 
And searing vegetation shall forewarn, 
And teach him to provide against the fourth.— 
First to the yellow lands he will repair 
And crop their produce ; — next in shelter pile 
Their several gifts, that th' approaching days 



Canto V.j FOURTH DAY. 153 

Of unproductive cold may not with want 
Be chargeable ; — nor shall th' example set 
Neglected lie by others ; — for in clefts 
Of sandy banks and hollow mounds will swarms, 
Of mindful creatures, gather in their food 
'Gainst coming need, and scant be thus unfelt 
When verdure shall no longer draw them forth, 
To feed upon the common meat of all. 

" The last division shall assume a face 
Of diff'rent aspect from the other three ; — 
Then shall thy countenance be seldom seen, 
Thy cheering influence be rarely felt ; 
Storms shall preside, and raging tempests rend' 
The racking heavens ; turning up the deep ; 
Tossing the ocean bounding to the skies, 
And mingling billows with the clouds above. 
But this shall even prove in proper time 
Its usefulness to nature and to man ; — 
For did the soil continue bearing fruit, 
No respite had from generating life, 
Soon with exhaustion failing, it would leave 
The world as barren as ere yet it bore. — 
Thus I ordain this season to repose, 



154 THE CREATION. [Canto V. 

As naught producing from the fertile soil, 
That Nature may revive and teem again.'" 

So spake the Omniscient ! and then exclaim'd, 
u Come forth thou lesser light, and straight commence 
Thy compound journey round the World and Sun : — 
Nocturnal lamp, to shed thy milder beams 
On yonder Earth, when day hath pass'd away, 
And render night not totally obscure.'" 

God said,— and lo, the Solar Orb began 
To heave and labour with an inward throe ; 
When with combustive thunder bursting forth, 
Swift shot the lunar globe towards the world 
With onward course, but slower grew, as near 
The one approaching and as farther from 
The other several ; — then awhile it stopp'd 
Self balanced 'twixt the two ; — attractions twain 
The cause ; — for thus it hung as tho' it held 
A consultation, whether to return 
To its bright parent, or advancing on 
Adjoin the bulk terrene ; but soon was taught 
That neither way it could progress ; since one, 
Tho 1 fair and beautiful in outward show 



Canto V.] FOURTH DAY. )5i 

Within contain'd the damn'd, and thus repelFd 

A nearer contact with its purer frame ; 

And yet, tho' strange, withheld it from escape 

By its superior size ;— so thus constrained, 

The nightly ruler in a circling path 

Began its office, traversing around 

With trembling passage that which hell enclosed ; 

Awhile Jehovah spake its destiny. 

" List, O thou Moon ! — for such shall be thy name, — 
And learn the laws connected with thyself: 
For numVous ages shalt thou circuit round 
Yon sphere terraqueous, and it illume 
Nocturnally ; — on the deep tide saline 
Shalt thou thy influence make manifest. — 
From thee shall emanate the monthly signs, 
Reminding man to cherish industry, 
And in the fertile land to plant and sow. 
But when the grain hath read^d pubescency, 
With more than common beauty thou assume 
The government vacated by the Sun, 
Affording human kind a clearer light 
For gathering in and storing Nature's gifts. 
And now, — since in thyself no ardent source 



156 THE CREATION, [Canto V. 

Of flame is centred, (for to those alone 
Which have effluxion from myself direct 
Doth this belong ;) be therefore thou content, 
From thy convexal mirror, to reflect 
A mild refulgence from thy parent orb." 

Thus spake the Godhead — and then re-assumed 
His voice creative in the wondYous work. 
" Come forth ye planetary spheres and tend 
The Moon in all her duties of the night ; 
Be her companions as she wends her way 
Athwart the heavens, and your lustre draw 
From the same source by which alone she shines. 1 ' 

Again the brilliant Orb with travail heaved, 
Again parturient, with thund'ring sound, 
From its vast bowels rush'd the planets forth 
With their attendant satellites, and left, 
By such explosion, darkling pits and falls 
Upon its otherwise transcendant disk : — 
Some nearer, some more distant than the Earth 
Commenced their journeys round the Central Sphere ;— 
When God their orbits with his finger mark'd 
And as he pointed, so they travelFd on. 



Canto V.] FOURTH DAY. 157 

Thus was the Solar system fornVd complete, 
But not, as yet, a single one appeared 
Of those bright luminaries, which were doonVd 
To grace the firmament in other range. 

When now Jehovah, — whose most dazzling light 
Made e'en the Sun seem dark, — with rapid course 
Flew upwards, borne upon no other wings 
Than his Omnipotence ; — and as he sprang, 
The less refulgent body in his rise, 
An impulse took which thus confirm 1 d its rule 
As regulating medium to space. 

Next, in succession, was the heaven sown 
With radiancy, as thro'' its vast expanse, 
The Source of all things excellent or bright 
Took his creative way, — sphered in the veil 
Of his inherent glory, — for behold 
As onwards traversing, huge globes of light, 
From him Omniferous, scatter'd themselves 
At his behest, and from their bowels rushVl 
Dependent satellites, which bent their course 
Attractive, round them as their central suns ; 
Systems composing but integral parts 



158 THE CREATION.. [Canto V 

Of the one great and systematic whole, 
Which on a common centre now revolved. 

First had the twelve most influential signs 
Zodiacal, their order taken, — next 
Both hemispheres in turn were interspersed, 
With brilliant Constellationary groups, 
Which studded them around, or mark'd the poles : — 
And last the Milky Way was thick bedropp'd 
With gems celestial, as thwart the arch 
Of pure ethereal vault, the God of light 
Had ta'en his passage, at each step and word 
Pow'r Omnific proving ; when lo, — he stopp'd, — 
And thus address'd the Universal throng. 

" Ye forms hierarchal, — into being call'd 
For purposes the wisest and most just, — 
Learn now the rules by which ye shall be sway'd, 
And guide the motions of futurity. 
To yonder Earth, in various signs foretell 
Events approaching, both of joy and grief; — 
Ye are its Ministers, on its account 
Alone are ye created ; for its good 
Angels from Highest Heaven shall descend 



Canto V.] FOURTH DAY, m 

And make ye towers of their watchfulness : — 

At its destruction ye shall also melt 

With fervent heat of my consuming wrath ; 

Mingling yourselves, once more, with that pure flame 

Of which ye are the lustrous progeny ; 

Until by Me again recalFd to shine 

With glory, in another Universe. 

" And now, — O light ! depart and prove thy God 
The All-apparent and All-present One : — 
Be neither lost nor useless, but assume 
The government of others, as in shapes 
Of ardent and refulgent train ye speed, 
In lengthen^ orbits, thro" the firmament ; 
Which, by their more extreme velocity, 
May keep the rest upon their rightful poise ; 
Attracting some, repelling others back 
Into their proper path, when by the force 
Of gravity inclinable to roam."' 1 

God spake, — and lo, the essence which remain'd 
Till now encircling him, with awful sound 
Was rent, and burst away thro 1 the vast scope 
Of the Etherean in countless globes, 

M 



lf)0 THE CREATION. [Canto V- 

Of purest fire, leaving a blaze behind, 
Which stretched for miles across the firmament ; 
And thus was form'd the Cometary host ; — 
Which God surveying with his other works 
Of that day, bless'd, declaring they were good. 

Thus had the world another circuit made, 
The latter part of which the new-born Sun 
Had gilded with his ray, reclining now 
Upon th' horizon ere descending thence 
To leave with other spheres the pleasing task 
Of giving light ! — Thus Evening and Morn 
Form'd the Fourth Day of most astounding grasp, 
And teem'd the millions of the firmament. 



END OF CANTO V. 



NOTES. 



CANTO V. 

Page 146, line 6. 

But mindless, — soulless, — instinct only had. 

Perhaps there never was a term more erroneously used than the 
word instinct, when applied to the perceptive powers of Beasts, Birds, 
&e. It is derived from the Latin instinctus, which means the 
almost compulsory inducement to do that in which reason has taken 
no part. 

This can only be applied to plants : since all animals have minds 
as well as Man, the difference consisting- in the absence of the soul 
in them, and the presence of it in him. Some may be inclined to deny 
that the brute creation, &c. have mental powers ; but let me ask, is it 
not an undoubted fact, that in man the brain is the seat of the 
mind ? If so, where is the use of all animals having brains in a greater 
or less degree, if they are not intended to be useful in the same way 
to them ? To prove satisfactorily that the brain is the seat of the 
mind, will be my endeavour in the notes to Canto VII., when man 
is created ; and therefore, at present, let the assumption stand on the 
general opinion. 

The vegetable world have no brains : what then causes the ivy, 
hop, convolvulus major, &c. to make for the nearest stem, pole, 
or wall, on which to cling for support, they requiring such assistance 

M 2 



1G2 NOTES TO CANTO V. 

in an eminent degree ; it is not the result of deliberation or thought : 
no, they are induced to seek that which is necessary for them with- 
out being aware of it themselves : this is instinct. 

Turn now to animal life : attack a spider's web ; upon your approach 
he retires to.his little cave, and watches the demolishment of his snare ; 
destroy only part of it, and what is the result ? he does not, upon 
your leaving 1 , set off in search of some other home, and build a new 
cell, and weave a fresh net ; but on the contrary, you see him descend- 
ing, making a survey of the damage done ; and then mending, taking 
care not to use one atom of thread .more than is necessary, lest he 
should exhaust his store, so as to be unable to repair in any similar 
misfortune that may befall him : here are powers of reason. But pull 
down the ivy, &c. from their different supporters, and unless trained 
up again by the hand of man, it is a great chance whether or not they 
ever recover their former situation ; thus having been led in the first 
instance by instinct to seek such support, having no power of recti- 
fying themselves when their common routine of nature is opposed 
or interfered with. 

It has been very gravely asserted, and that in a book which has 
run through several editions, that there is no improbability about 
the minds of animals, although it does allow that they possess 
such. I deny this theory in toto, and inquire whether there is not as 
much difference between the wild cat and the tame, as there is 
between the savage and the industrious labourer ; and whether brutes 
do not show different degrees of intellect. There may be a bound set 
by an Allwise Providence to their attainments, and so there is to thine, 
proud Man ! thou, who hast taken many of thy most useful ideas from 
the arts and manufactures of inferior animals ; for they have their arts 
and manufactures. 

It is somewhat humbling to know, that so many discoveries (as they 
are called) have been the result of accident ; or perchance, a lesson 
from these mindless animals, rather than from any ability in the dis- 
coverer : witness even Sir Isaac Newton, the brightest star that ever 
adorned this country; he owed in great measure his wonderful deduc- 
tions to the fall of an apple. It is our powers, therefore, of imitation 



NOTES TO CANTO V. 163 

— application — and, peradventure, improvement — that sets us so emi- 
nently above the brute creation, rather than any inborn talent ; for 
the child, at a proportionate age, does not show, but in rare instances, 
so much sense as inferior animals. 

But while instinct is the governing- power of plants, it is by no means 
exclusively confined to them, but is also to be found in life of every 
kind, up to man ; yet it is in conjunction with other gifts, and 
not, as in vegetables, placed by itself. It is thus that so beautiful a 
tie runs through all nature, and that man is so fit, next to God, to be 
the Lord over all; or, as I have termed him in this poem, "vice- 
gerent," since he unites in himself the properties of every one, and 
each as it is removed a step farther from him, is thus less like him. 
We will begin with the lowest order, and work upwards. 

First, there are the different sorts of earth and fluids ; these, having 
no life of any description, have therefore no innate means of direction ; 
next come Plants which are another form of earth and fluids with 
the addition of vegetable life or instinct; then Birds, Beasts, &c. 
which are composed of earth and fluids, and have also instinct, to 
which is added a mind or modified powers of thought, &c; and lastly, 
man, who is composed of earth and fluids, possesses instinct, has a 
mind, to which is added an immortal soul, thus linking him to God 
the head of all. 

If I am asked how we and other animals show instinct, I 
answer, that in sleep, if a sharp instrument be applied to the foot 
or hand of the sleeper, he instinctively withdraws the member 
affected, but not until it has actually come in contact with such 
member : but if awake, he will not allow its approach at all. This 
is the action of the mind and not instinct, as the man knows by his 
reasoning powers the unpleasant effect that will follow; whereas, in 
sleep, he only withdraws the offended limb out of the way for the 
moment, leaving it exposed to a second and instantaneous attack, 
while when awake, he will take effectual means, either by flight 
or resistance, to prevent its molestation. 

The same argument applies to other animals. In plants, this is 
not the case ; they only endeavour to alter their situation, when the 



164 NOTES -TO CANTO V. 

object of annoyance actually comes in contact with them ; or is 
sufficiently near to affect them in some way or other, and not when 
approaching; from a distance ; witness for instance, the mimosa or sen- 
sitive plant, one of the best, perhaps, from the circumstance of being 
a strong proof of instinct ; it retires only when touched, or the warmth 
of the hand is felt, and not while it is kept afar off, from the fear of the 
possibility of an approach. 

Many, I have no doubt, will consider I have extended this note 
farther than necessary; but I am not writing- for the learned only, but 
for the child and less intelligent reader; besides, I am so fond of 
every subject possessing philosophical food, that the reader must 
excuse me, if I fancy every body as desirous of a bountiful repast as 
myself. 



Page 147, line 7- 

" My faithful Hosts of Angels wait to praise 
Their mighty Monarch, for this other proof 
Of his strict justice and unerring word." — 
The only Being who can speak of himself or his works in terms of 
praise without incurring a charge of vanity, is God. All others have 
their superiors in intellect ; for the most clever man that ever lived is 
outshone by the angels, and they in their turn by their God ; with 
the exception of the rebellious Lucifer and his tribe, all, we have 
every reason to believe from Revelation, have ever been ready to 
acknowledge their inferiority in the most humble terms ; but the 
Omnipotent Jehovah has no superior, — no one who can perform greater 
works than himself ; but on the contrary, has the only right to the 
praise due to those of his creatures. It is only vanity where there 
is a possibility of being excelled ; it is only boasting when there is 
a probability of not being able to perform ; and as such is liable to 
be the lot of all men in this world, and certain to be in the next, none 
have a right to be otherwise than humble ; although without being 
servile to every one who fancies himself superior. 



NOTES TO CANTO V. 165 

I have thought it necessary to make these few remarks upon the 
foregoing- lines, since throughout the speech from which they are 
taken, the Almighty is speaking in praise of his work; and I feared, 
lest some might imagine it too much in the strain of a human being, 
exulting in some performance of his own; but as I have said before, 
what is highly fitting in God, is very improper in man, and therefore 
I trust it will be considered, if there be any fault, it is from men 
daring to use vain-glorious expressions, and not in thus representing 
an Omnipotent Creator. 



Page 148, line 15. 

" Besides these twain, myriads shall appear, 
Somefiafd and others traversing the skies.'''' 

It is perfectly astonishing to see what pains (as I have before 
observed) is taken to explain away Scripture : some work or other is 
constantly making its appearance with this eifect ; although I am very 
ready to believe, from the character of the writers, most uninten- 
tionally on their part. Why not take the Bible as it stands, and 
endeavour to make our ideas agree with it, instead of twisting its 
doctrines and expressions in every possible way, to make it agree with 
our ideas? 

Amongst others of these explanatory destroyers of Revelation, is 
that of its being supposed that only the planets which revolve round 
the Sun, along with ourselves, are meant by "he made the stars 
also ; " and not that innumerable host which we see of a fine night, 
and whose boundaries are beyond all human calculation. Astrono- 
mers so bewilder themselves with their fancied discoveries, and their 
technicalities, that they entirely lose sight of the great end of all 
research — devotion ; and the only assisting means by which the truth 
may be arrived at — religious belief in Revelation. 

Every person will find that the words " he made" are put in italics, 
in their edition of the Bible, to show that they are interpolations of 



166 NOTES TO CANTO V. 

the translator ; and therefore, the sentence runs thus, and very well 

without : 

" And God made two great lights ; the greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light to 
rule the night : the stars also." — Gen. i. 16. 

Here, God made, governs the whole sentence ; evidently meaning 
that in the same day that he made the Sun and Moon, he made the 
stars also, and not that he was their creator, perhaps at some former 
period ; since there was no occasion for Moses to give that piece of 
information, as it would have followed in a believer's mind as a matter 
of course. Oh ! but it is said " the stais " mean those planets that 
revolve round the same Sun we do ; since they shed light upon the 
world, the others do not. This I deny, since if they gave us no light, 
we should not see them, as we have not the faculty of distinguish- 
ing in the dark ; and the light from the Moon and Planets has 
the effect to reduce the brilliancy of the other heavenly bodies, 
rather than assist us in seeing them ; indeed, there is no doubt, that 
were the beams of the Moon and Planets removed from the heavens, we 
should see the others more vividly than we do now ; in fact, it stands 
to reason ; it requires no argument ; and what is very extraordinary, 
it is generally believed by astronomers, that the cause of our every 
now and then discovering new stars, is from the circumstance of their 
light only having just reached us. But what, it may be said, has this 
to do with the point at issue : all this may be true, and yet only the 
planets inferred by the words u he made the stars also." 

To return then to the subject in question: inverse seven, in the 
first chapter of Genesis, God creates the firmament, being his second 
day's work ; and in the very firmament, of which no part evidently 
had been created before, he places the Sun, Moon, and Stars ; but it 
may be said, the firmament there means the atmosphere, which sur- 
rounds the world ; my only question is, then are the Sun, Moon, and 
Planets placed in that atmosphere ? 

Now comes the last objection. Is it likely God would have created 
such innumerable orbs for the benefit of this poor insignificant globe ? 

That God, who could from his love to this world, send his only 
begotten Son, the darling of his bosom, in fact, a portion of his 



NOTES TO CANTO V. 167 

own sacred self, to die for it, would not be very likely to be 
sparing in a few extra stars to adorn it; besides, in his eye, 
the whole Universe must be small; — what is it to Infinity? We 
might therefore as well, upon seeing a small lock of hair set 
round with numerous diamonds, wonder at the person wearing it 
having been so extravagant ; it is sufficient to know that the owner 
has his reasons and secret value for that lock of hair ; and so God 
has proved he regards this world as a little jewel, which sooner 
than lose he condescended to rescue from perdition by the death 
of his Son, a boon which was not allowed to the Angels, beings 
apparently so far superior to ourselves. 

All human ideas upon such vast subjects, of course, can be but con- 
jecture ; but those ought only to be received which have argument on 
their side, and not such as have no such support, or perhaps all 
reason against them. 



Page 149, line 13. 

" And from thy inmost core to feed the fame 
Which now Creation warms, supporting it 
With quick succession ;" 

The Sun is evidently the chief agent of light to us, and it is really 
quite astonishing, the different theories which have been promulgated 
respecting its luminous supply. I have already given one of them in 
a former note, and now I present the reader with another, and which 
is considered to be very happy, viz. that light is caused by the decom- 
position of the exhalations arising from the body of the Sun. 

" God is light;" we believe that in heaven there is no sun required 
because he is the seat of light : is it likely that, in order to produce 
such, there must be decomposing exhalations around him. The idea 
evidently has been taken from the fact, that various bodies in a state 
of decomposition afford a phosphoric light ; but this is the escape, as 
I have before said, of that essence from the object in which it had 
been hitherto indwelling, and not the mode of producing it. It 



168 - NOTES TO CANTO V. 

seems much more likely then, that light is a pure fluid implanted in 
the Sun, and as it escapes, fed by internal resources. I intend 
however, to notiee this subject again further on. 



Page 153, line 23. 
" Thus I ordain this season to repose.''' 1 
How pleasing a simile does the round of one year in nature, offer 
to the whole life of a pious man ! Spring is his childhood ; Summer, 
manhood ; Autumn, old age ; Winter, the grave, when his body 
only sleeps until reviving again, he lives for ever in a Spring of 
immortality as a child in Heaven. 

" Suffer little children to come unto me, and forbid them not : for of such is the kingdom 
of God."— Luke xviii. 16. 

Since Jehovah is the only One there, who can claim the Summer, 
or full knowledge, power, and splendour of Eternity ! 



Page 157, line 17- 
As onwards traversing, huge globes of light, 
From him omniferous, scattered themselves 
At his behest. 

One of the excellent laws of this realm is, that all property is held 
mediately or immediately of the King : he is considered as the general 
donor ; if there is a failure therefore in the line of donees, the property 
most rightfully reverts to the originally owner. So we may be certain 
that every thing that is good or perfect proceeds or has proceeded 
directly or indirectly, from God; and therefore it seems highly pro- 
bable, that those glorious bodies in Heaven called stars, proceeded 
from him direct, whilst those having no intrinsic lustre, indirectly ; he 
is called in the Bible the " Father of lights" 

Astronomers, however, would state that they were not considered 
to be mere globes of fire or light, but solid bodies emitting light ; 



NOTES TO CANTO V. 169 

this places no difficulty in the way of the above idea, as meteoric 
substances are of very common production ; and thus in the same 
way might the nucleus of the several Suns of the Universe have been 
formed, when in the act of explosion from primeval light. 

Some may be inclined to cavil at the idea of the stars being thus 
thrown off from the light surrounding God, as being too much of the 
nature of fire-works ; but I have grounded the supposition upon the 
declaration, that God is the " Father of lights ;" besides, I submit the 
effect is more grand than to suppose he merely called them into being, 
and that^they forthwith appeared like so many igniting lamps. 

On earth, the most splendid use of light that we can make, is pyro- 
technical, and far excels any other. 



Page 158, line 2. 
Which on a common centre now n 

This refers to our Sun, and I am aware I have again to argue 
a difficult point when I endeavour, as I intend doing forthwith, to 
prove that it forms most probably the common centre to the whole 
visible universe. 

In a former note, I have demonstrated that Infinity must be of a 
spherical conformation ; we know that our Earth, the Sun, Planets, and 
Stars, all appear to partake of the same property, as speroids ; hence 
it seems but proper to infer that the universe is rendered spherical 
by its boundaries wherever they may be. 

Thus the firmament is possibly one immense sphere of aerial 
texture, in which thousands of smaller ones, and of different natures, 
move : this large sphere must have a centre, and which centre must 
necessarily be the regulating medium or point about which the others 
are carried. I have endeavoured to prove according to Revela- 
tion (the only source we have any right to argue from) that all the 
heavenly bodies were created in one day ; and as it appears that God 
first formed our Sun, then the Moon, and then the " Stars also," it 
seems but plausible, that the first body formed {viz. the Sun) would be 



170 NOTES TO CANTO V. 

placed in the centre, as the restraining power over all the others, about 
in several turn to be created. We know, that in order to describe a 
circle, we must choose some point first for a centre, or that having that 
circle given us, and wishing to place figures within it which may 
have relative distances to that centre, we must find that point first, 
and so on with any number of them. 

Let not the Reader suppose I intend to infer the Omnipotent 
God requires to work by the same rules we do, or that he is 
restrained from altering them when he pleases ; but as our science, 
after all, is but in a measure the discovery of those natural laws laid 
down by him at the creation, they not merely appear the best, but 
the only means that new ideas can be defended upon. I am perhaps 
somewhat more particular than most authors, in being so anxious 
not to set any bounds to God's power; especially as a celebrated bard 
has represented him as using a pair of compasses in the work of 
creation ; it is a pity this vivid piece of imagination had not been 
finished by adding a trowel, rule, plummet, &c. &c. &c, a galvanic 
battery and electrifying machine for the production of light. 

It may here be said, that the earth was formed before the Sun (ac- 
cording to Revelation) ; and therefore, that ought by the foregoing 
reasoning to form the centre to the universe. To this I answer, that 
we know our Earth is not the centre to the universe, as it re- 
volves round the Sun, and as I have endeavoured from the Bible 
to prove that Hell is possibly enclosed thereby, it appears probable, it 
is only endeavouring by circumvolution to gain its first position, 
and from which it was deposed at the creation. 

I should be told by astronomers that the Sun is not a stationary 
body, but has two actions, one upon its own axis, and another round 
the common centre to all created objects, and in which last it draws 
with it the whole planetary and cometary system ; the latter of these 
I believe has never been proved; but nevertheless, if true, it only 
confirms the doctrine in a former note of the unfixed centre to Infini- 
tude ; for as there can be no fixed point, the Sun in its revolution may 
still, as represented here, be that point. The former action is just what 
is required as the rotatory centre to the Universe. 



NOTES TO CANTO V. 171 

It was thought by La Place that the Sun's power extended beyond 
the mere planetary system ; and so no doubt it does, and in this way : 
his attraction extends to stars of the first magnitude, their's to those 
of the second, the second to the third, and so on, and thus remove 
him and the whole would be thrown into confusion ; indeed, we are 
expressly told so in Revelation, that the destruction of one will be 
the destruction of all, an idea even held by many wise heathens. 



Page 158, line 18. 
" To yonder earth, in various signs foretell 
Events approaching, both of joy and grief ;" 

It will be remembered that in a former note I have declared a strong 
belief in the doctrines of astrology, and which by some may be con- 
sidered superstitious ; but let it be remembered that it is supersti- 
tion to believe any thing of which there is no visible proof, and there- 
fore the belief in the Bible, or of an overruling Providence, may by 
infidels be placed under that denomination. As far as regards Reve- 
lation, I am not ashamed to own myself superstitious, as I believe 
implicitly every thing therein contained; and it is this very trust 
in Scripture that has induced me to consider there is something more 
in astrology than I originally gave it credit for; being a decided 
opponent of its doctrines ere I had searched Holy Writ 

From various passages in the Bible, I have drawn the conclu- 
sion, that although at the present day there may be some doubt 
of the accuracy of our astrological knowledge, yet that the study is 
not to be discarded altogether, because the predictions are sometimes 
false. Some of Sir Isaac Newton's ideas have been found of late 
years to be erroneous, and therefore the same may be said of astrology. 

It is well known that the Egyptians were far beyond us in all 
science, since they were enabled to build pyramids, the raising of a 
single stone of which, has puzzled modern engineers to discover what 
machines must have been used for the purpose ; — now the Egyptians 
were believers in astrology. 



172 NOTES TO CANTO V. 

But I shall found my arguments on better grounds, — those derived 
from the Bible itself, commencing with the following : — 

" The Pharisees also with the Sadducees came, and tempting, desired him that he would 
show them a sign from heaven. 

" He answered and said unto him, when it is evening ye say it will be fair weather, for the 
sky is red. 

" And in the morning, it will be foul weather to-day, for the sky is red and lowering. Oh 
ye hypocrites, ye can discern the face of the sky, but can ye not discern the signs of the 
times ? 

" A wicked and adulterous generation seeketh after a sign, and there shall no sign be 
given unto it."— Mat. xvi. 1—4. 

Also again our Saviour says : — 

" When ye see a cloud rise out of the West, straightway ye say, there cometh a shower, 
and so it is. 

" And when ye see the South wind blow, ye say there will be heat, and it cometh to pass." 
— Luke xii. 54 — 55. 

The above I am aware do not argue in direct favour of astrology ; 
but they do indirectly, and are given to prove that our Saviour admit- 
ted thus far the powers of man to judge, by the appearance of the sky, 
certain approaching effects ; as also the Pharisees and Sadducees, it is 
probable, would not have asked for a sign from heaven, unless they 
had been used to, or at any rate believed in such modes of information ; 
nor would our Saviour have told them no sign should be given, if such 
had not been at other times, but would have at once declared the 
impossibility of such a thing, or have shown its absurdity. But I 
now come to those texts that are less equivocal in their meaning. 

" And let them be for signs, and for seasons, and for days and years." — Gen. i. 14. 

'* They fought from heaven, the stars in their courses fought against Sisera." — Jui>. v. 20. 

" There came wise men from the East to Jerusalem ; 

" Saying, where is he that is born king of the Jews ? for we have seen his star in the East. 

" Then Herod, when he had privily called the wise men, enquired of them diligently what 
time the star appeared." — Mat. ii. 1, 2, 7« 

" And there shall be signs in the Sun, and in the Moon, and in the Stars." — Luke xxi. 25. 

There are others of a similar bearing to the above, although not 
so clear, and therefore I have not extracted them. 

Well, then, it appears from Holy Writ, that in the first place, the 
heavenly bodies were created for signs to the earth ; that they are 
mentioned as having been adverse in their courses to the cause of 
Sisera ; that at our Saviour's birth, certain wise men (no doubt per- 



NOTES TO CANTO V. 173 

sons who made the heavens and their various orbs their peculiar study), 
were induced to come from the East to Jerusalem, from the circum- 
stance of having seen a Star, and which they knew declared a great 
event in the arrival of the Ktng of the Jews ! And Herod, evi- 
dently not doubting the possibility of such warning, sent for them, 
and enquired at what time the star appeared ; whereas had astrology 
not been believed, the wise men would have disregarded the omen, 
and Herod have felt no fear. And lastly, our Saviour expressly tells 
us, that it will be by signs in the Sun, Moon, and Stai's that we shall 
be made aware of the approach of tinal judgment. 

Thus, I think it is very probable that the art, from discontinuance 
of study, may be in a measure lost, (although it is singular to observe 
how accurate are many predictions even at the present day,) yet 
that it was truly useful formerly, and that the stars are something 
more to us than mere ornament — in fact, that they form but index 
points, moved by the hand of Omnipotence to mark the several great 
events of time. 



Page 159, line 1. 
" And make ye towers of their watchfulness?" 

Many have been the conjectures respecting the Stars as regards 
inhabitants, but all seem to agree, they must be of different natures 
from our own. Some have thought angels : an idea towards which, I 
confess, I strongly incline. 

It is extraordinary that angels have ever appeared to be near this 
Earth : witness their various descents related in the Bible. It seems, 
therefore, very likely that the Stars are points of watchfulness, in 
which angels keep guard over this little globe and the inhabitants on 
its surface, ever ready to carry those of the redeemed to the realms 
of eternal bliss, which must be constantly taking place : whilst Satan, 
stalking over the earth, drives those of the wicked up to God; 
and having accused them, carries them back to everlasting misery. 
It is very probable, this may have been the history of Michael and the 



174 NOTES TO CANTO V. 

Devil, contending for the body of Moses ; as also the great battle fore- 
told in Revelations, between Michael and his angels, and the Dragon 
and his angels ; indeed, even now, contentions probably often arise 
between them when passing through space on their various errands. 



Page 159, line 14. 

" Wliich, by their more extreme velocity, 
May keep the rest upon their rightful poise." 

I am much surprised that amongst the many eminent astronomers 
that have lived, nothing like a probable use for comets has been 
assigned. It has been ascertained that there are great numbers of them, 
that they move in peculiar orbits, and yet they appear to have no object 
for their course. That they are not useless is certain, since God has 
made nothing in vain. I therefore throw out the following suggestion, 
and which I trust will be considered to have something like a philoso- 
phical foundation : whether they are not regulating bodies to the whole 
Universe, and in the following way, having been ordained to such pur- 
pose from the creation by an Omniscient Being. 

Suppose a body, from its inclination to gravitate to the common 
centre of all things, should happen to be inclined to fall out of its orbit, 
by the additional attraction of some other body coming between it and 
that centre : a comet passing on the other side would recover it again 
into its proper course, or passing between two bodies, inclined to 
near each other, from its extreme velocity, would have the eifect by 
impulse, and perhaps slightly quickening their revolution, to propel 
them into their orbits again ; all which seems the more probable from 
the circumstance of the orbits of comets often cutting those of other 
bodies, as also they having been observed to be sensibly aifected when 
in their neighbourhood. 



CANTO VL 



" And God said, let the waters bring forth abundantly the moving creature that hath 
life, and fowl that may fly above the earth in the open firmament of heaven. 

" And God created great whales, and every living creature that moveth, which the waters 
brought forth abundantly, after their kind, and every winged fowl after his kind : and God 
saw that it was good. 

" And God blessed them, saying, be fruitful, and multiply, and fill the waters in the seas, 
and let fowl multiply in the earth. 

" And the evening and the morning were the fifth day."— Gbn. i. 20 to 23. 



ARGUMENT. 



Description of the first setting of the Sun.- — The Moon as yet 
giving no light, the Stars perform her office. — The calm state of the 
Heavens, whilst God, having withdrawn his refulgence, descending, 
alights upon the Earth. — The reason why God chose to be unapparent. 
—He moves upon the waters, instilling the vital principle ; when 
thus being impregnated, he commands them to bring forth. — In tem- 
pestuous labour they obey God's voice. — Amid the storm the Morning 
Star rising, with its mild beams appeases their throes.— The Sun next 
appears in the East, and gives life to various morbid bodies lying in 
the deep, formed by the waves as they were rolled over or burst. 
—The animating of Leviathan and other large fish, as also of the 
Flying-fish, Dorado, Diodon, &c. — Description of various Shell- 
fish, &c. ; mention of some of the principal fresh-water kinds. — 
The mode in which the waters produced the Fowl of the Air is 
next imagined, viz. by their being thrown aloft by concussion 
against the rocks, and carrying with them portions of earth. — Becom- 
ing there congealed, as they in feathery shapes descend, receiving 
from the Sun's refracted rays their several colours ; the same effect, 
acting upon those formed of the foam that remains on the waters. — 
The Eagle, Vulture, Kite, &c. are next celebrated. — Then those of 
the Ostrich order. — Next the Poultry kind. — After those the Song- 
sters. — And lastly, various Water Fowl. — The Insects are then men- 
tioned. — The amiable state of all, when God in a gentle breeze gives 
them his blessing. — The evening and morn are thus the Fifth Day. 



CANTO SIXTH. 



Wbt attention. 



The Sun had set, and o'er the ridge of hills 
Which bound th 1 horizon of fair Eden's land, 
Had left his ruby tint, and from the soil 
Soft exhalations rose, anon to fall 
During the night, and with their balmy dew 
The ground refresh ; — whilst the infantine Moon 
So lately born, as yet no beams dispensed, 
But faced her brighter lord, drinking deep draught? 
Of his refulgence ; that in course of days, 
When in her orbit sped, in turn compell'd 
To light the World, and from her breast reflect, 
With gentle chastity, his ardent glare, 
She might outshine the brilliant host of Stars 
Which now her office held, and for the time 
Smiled on the Earth with their translucent ray. 

N 2 



178 THE CREATION. [Canto VI. 

How calm was Heaven whilst its orbs described 
Their intricacies, as along propelFd 
Circuitous, retain' d within their course 
By the restrictive will and skill profound 
Of their Creator ; — yet the Mighty One, 
Who had their being given, and surpass'd 
Them all in splendour, was content to hide 
His greater glory, and invisible, 
Be only seen as dimly thro"' the means 
Of their resplendent mirrors. — For the Lord, 
God's indissoluble Tri-unity, 
(Descending thro"* the medium of the Mind 
Or Omnipresent Father, who conveys, 
By his intelligence illimitate, 
All hidden knowledge to the other twain,) 
Was now upon the world's rotundity 
Alighted, there, — in countless living forms, — 
To close creation with a host of life. 

Thus was the Godhead unapparent, for 
Had he approached, surrounded by the blaze 
Ineffable, which at the teemful word 
" Let there be light !" from his own eye sprang forth, 
And round him gathered in a dazzling veil 



Canto VI.] FIFTH DAY, 179 

Of holy woof, to hide the Holiest ; 

Earth would have fled with terror, or its grain 

And parching herbage perish'd with the heat 

Of his dissolvent fervour ; whilst the tribes 

Of animated creatures must have died 

Soon as created, overawed at One 

Too bright for eyes terrene ; — so did foresee 

The Ever-Sapient, as now enrobed 

With vest of undeclared creativeness, 

He moved upon the waters, and them fill'd, 

From his own breast, with oxygenic stream. 

Soon were the seas and rivers, in their beds, 
Render'd prolific, as enow complete 
In all the sources of vitality : — 
When in a voice, which like a rushing wind 
Swept o'er their surface, ploughing up the plain 
Of their smooth countenance, the Lord exclaim'd : 
" Ye fluid bodies, is it fit that ye 
Should yet remain unfruitful, when the land 
Is so productive ? — No ! — Abundantly 
Bring forth the moving creature that hath life, 
And pennon'd fowl, and insect that may fly 
In the broad firmament of heav'n above." 



180 THE CREATION. [Canto VI. 

With labour torn the Sea now raged and foam'd, 
And rose in lofty billows to the skies ; 
Waves over waves went rolling to the shore, 
Or dash'd them on the circumscribing cliffs ; 
Rivers ran up their banks, and from the hills 
Down hurFd the cataract precipitous, 
And over-leap'd the bounds, that else had stemm'd 
Its wild career ; and as it vaulted high 
O'er mound and mount, aloft it flung its spray 
Into the gelid air ; — so quick obey'd, 
Was the behest of the Almighty One 
By these Inanimates : — and thus thro' night 
They kept unceasing in their travailing. 

Amid their heavings rose the Morning Star, 
The twilight herald of the Orb of Day, 
And from her orbit cast so mild a glance 
On all below, that ocean was consoled, 
And seem'd as tho' it had o'erheard her speak 
To this import : — Know you not ? it was God, 
Your ever-blessed Sovereign, that spake ; 
Cease then your toiling, and approve yourself 
Worthy his care ; that when a brighter sphere, 
Of which I am the messenger, shall rise, 



Canto VI.] FIFTH DAY. 181 

And with his glances interpenetrant 

Research your depths, he may your offspring see, 

And give the vital spark to all their kind. 

Ear o'er the main, with oriental pride, 
The Sun anon uproused him ; on his cheek 
The ruddy glow of youth and earliness 
Predominant : — at his approach the stars 
Withdrew their light, and left him thus to rule 
Sole King of Day ; — he to the lowest depths 
Darted his beams, and with electric shock 
Struck life into the lifeless, and the floods 
Set all in motion ; — for, till he appear'd, 
The waters were bestrewed with inert forms 
Of matter, into which the turbid waves 
Had been congeal'd, as over-rolPd or burst, 
In sundry shapes and varied magnitude, 
From the vast billow to the single spray. 

A watYy mountain (as its tumid heap 
High above others did erect itself, 
And falling had outstretch'd its pond'rous bulk 
For leagues around,) became Leviathan : — 
Thro 1 his impervious scales the solar ray 



182 THE CREATION. [Canto VI 

Pierced to his centre, as he lay ensconced 
To all things else impenetrably seaFd. 
Stricken with fear he groan'd, as thro' his veins 
Ran the pure fluid, but perceiving soon 
His own stupendousness, he raised himself, 
Proud of his armoury, and, with his tail, 
Lash'd the great deep until its boiling flood 
With hoary surge was cover'd : — him around 
Sported the Grampus, Dolphin, Cachalot, 
And Whale ; who, from their perforated heads, 
Spouted unawed their fountain playfulness. 

Farther away the Flying-fish was chased 
By the Dorado, not in fierce pursuit* 
But harmless pastime, as each cleft its way 
Thro'' the green element ; in turn, the one 
Skimming the surface, as the other near'd 
Its little form* and, from its finny wings, 
Dropp'd sparkling dew upon the silvYy back 
And golden fins of its swift follower. 
The spheric Diodon next show'd itself 
And swelFd beneath the Sun, as if in strife 
To equal him in size : — the Opah leap'd, 
Baring its scarlet skin with argent spots ; 



Canto VI.] FIFTH DAY. 183 

And the huge Shark sail'd playfully along 
Mid shoals of pigmy dwellers of the Seas : — 
Thus Ocean from its waves alike produced 
Cetaceous monsters and the smallest fry. 

Beneath the waters had the sandy bed, 
O'er which they roll'd, a num'rous race brought forth, 
Some clad with sutured mail, whilst others drew 
With slimy path their tenements along, 
Burd'ning their backs, or on the rocks took root 
At will, capricious in their sojourning : — 
Some did their tedious way, from coral shades 
And waving weeds, betake up shelving banks, 
And when upon the pebbled strand arrived 
Bask'd at their ease until the flowing tide 
Carried them backwards to their humid homes ;— i 
Or hobbled onwards in the search of food. 

Here was the spiny Lobster in a race 
Contending with the Crab, whose sidelong crawl 
Seem'd mock'ry of moving : — there lazily 
The Turtle eyed the shore with stupid leer, 
Or stumbled forwards on its fin-cased legs. 
Sprinkled around upon excrescences 



184 THE CREATION. [Canto VI. 

Petrescent, whose bald heads were peeping out 

Above the sand, with firm tenacity 

The Trochus, Murex, and the Conch had clung ; 

Or in a cluster purple Muscle ranged 

With Cockle and the Winkle interspersed. 

In brackish rivulets and little pools 

The Nautilus besteer'd his fragile bark, 

While th' Urchin ran along beneath his helm ; — 

Or spreading out their horns the Polypus 

And Cuttle Fish their nutriment besought, 

With others various, of floral shapes, 

Connecting links to vegetable life. 

These were the children of the floods saline, 
But channels too their habitants possess'd 
At the same instant as the mighty seas ; 
And at a birth brought forth a living host 
Of creatures^ to their depths proportionate. 

And first the Pike in sportive gambols flash'd 
' Neath the transparent stream, and round him swam, 
Nothing afraid, the Gudgeon, Roach, and Dace ; 
While crested Perch in playful chase pursued 
In turn the Minnow and the slender Loach : — 



Canto VI.] FIFTH DAY. 185 

The Trout in mirth leap'd out, and as he cleft 

Again the yielding surface, left behind 

The circling evidence of joyfulness. 

In crystal lakes the Carp and Tench rejoiced, 

And blue-back'd Charr with ruddy spots bedeck'd ; 

Thus had the waters all their varied tribes, 

From scaly fish to animalculae. 

But these were creatures only doom'd to thrive 
Within the bosom of the sev'ral deeps ; 
A more transcendant race had been the fruit 
Of God's command, " abundantly bring forth :"° — 
For when the sea, from throes parturient 
Had dash'd against the cliffs, and high in air 
Its froth had thrown, or on its countenance 
The feather'd foam had floated back again, 
And cataracts and rivers had been torn, 
With like convulsion ;— each had in their spray 
Up-borne, into the frigid atmosphere, 
Particles of earth, or had wash'd away 
Portions of land in many a rolling wave ; 
And thus form'd Fowl and Insects, who received 
Their different colours from the soil contain'd ; — 
Or in their fall, thro' them terraqueous 



186 THE CREATION. [Canto VI. 

As the Sun s rays refracted, or along 

When carried on the billows' top as surge, 

Reflected him ; — whatever tints he shed, 

These they retain'd, and on expanded wings, 

Some saiFd away to fitting domiciles, — 

Whilst others with their webb'd feet scull'd, in search 

Of rock, or marsh, or fen-encompass'd home, 

Or ran upon the ground in lively train. 

High, above all the rangers of the skies, 
The Golden Eagle to the mid-day blaze 
Display'd his pinions, and with wheeling flight 
Floated in equipoisal dignity ; 
Until he spied a giant crag beneath, 
When motionless he hung awhile aloft, 
Like a dark cloud, then prone he downwards dropp'd 
Perpendicular, and on its summit stood, 
Eyeing askance the region spread below : — 
Around him buoy'd in slow undevious course 
The heavy Vulture and the slothful Kite, 
And ever and anon they made descent 
Upon some jutting point, — then off again 
They flung themselves, and on their pennons borne, 
Balanced their bodies thro' the azure air, 



Canto VI.] FIFTH DAY. 187 



With speed unrivalTd, next the Falcon flew 
Swift o'er the vale, and on a lofty peak 
Perching himself, with penetrating glance 
Into a hollow peer'd, where sat unmoved 
With eyes of flame the solid-looking Owl, 
Waiting for night's return ere he should'try 
His powers in the open firmament. 
Besides these, numerous others of the kind 
Wanton'd about, — the Lanner, Kestril, Hawk, 
The little Merlin, and the dauntless Shrike 
Of size diminutive ; — all innocent, 
And at peace with every other fowl, 
Contentedly regaled on fruits and grain. 

On level plains the stately Ostrich ran 
Or Cassowary gallop^, — while full slow 
The Dodo waddled in its awkward gait, 
Or quick- eyed Bustard cropp'd the berried heath. 
Upon a rising ground, with head erect 
And chest expanded, strode the crested Cock, 
And ever and anon he made a halt, 
And with his clarion proclaim'd the day. 
Full oft the Peacock, of his plumage proud, 
Spread to the light his gold and purple train, 



188 THE CREATION. [Canto VI. 

Which with its many eyes, appeared as tho* 
It gazed undazzled on the noontide Sun : — 
The Turkey too, with firm and measured tread, 
At his importance swolfn, moved along : — 
Whilst the Pintada, on extended flats,, 
With restless motion, sought its nourishment ; 
Or Grouse or Pheasant, Partridge and the Quail, 
Or plumed and ring-necked sable Curassow. 

Perch'd mid the foliage of the verdant woods, 
Another tribe attuned their melody ; — 
There sang the Blackbird, Starling, and the Thrush, 
The Linnet too and Chaffinch join'd their notes ; 
And from the ground the heav'nly Lark uprose, 
Warbling with extasy ; — while in a bush, 
In list'ning secresy, the Nightingale 
Heard all their lays, and in their varied strains, 
Distinguish^ each peculiar excellence 
With taste so exquisite, that when, fair bird, 
Her turn should come to welcome evening, 
She might unite, with perfect harmony, 
Collective beauties in her own sweet song. 
Deep in the forest, midst the branches lost, 
The Cuckoo chaunted its monotony ; 



Canto VL] FIFTH DAY. 189 

Whilst the devoted Turtle-dove became 
The plaintive psalmist of the sacred grove. 

In other regions other species proved 
The wondVous wisdom of the Great Supreme: 
In tropic trees, the Parrot and Maccaw, 
The Toucan or the Ani had assumed 
Their lofty seats, — or far away removed 
The Roller chatter'd and the Oriel 
Glitter'd with golden plumage ; — on a spray 
The Hoppoe sat, and Ouzel with his plumes 
Of rosy dye and coronet of black : — 
There on a velvet lawn, in graceful dance, 
The Crown Bird and the Demoiselle display'd 
Their bounding figures ; whilst the Humming Bird 
From flower fled to flower, and intoned 
The air with music, for their sportiveness. 

Beside the waters ranging, other kinds 
Of feather'd beings their sleek plumage trimmM, 
Or forded on their slender legs the stream : — 
Here with long strides the Heron and the Stork 
Perambulated, while the social Crane 
And Egret took repast alternately, 



190 THE CREATION. [Canto VI. 

And Bittern, from his ample chest sent forth 
A booming call, that echo'd 'mongst the rocks ; 
The Ibis and the Curlew next appealed 
On the sea-coast, and little Sanderling ; 
And the Flamingo of gigantic height, 
Companion with the dwarfish Avoset. 

On the smooth surface of the ocean skimm'd 
The Gull and Petrel, and the active Tern ; 
Or on its bosom borne, the Pelican 
And Corvorant majestically saM. 
In constant friendship, with the Penguin, swam 
Its bold companion the great Albatross ; 
And farther off the Gannet stemmed the flood, 
While swift the Darter cut the foaming wave. 

On a still lake reflected in its face, 
The stately Swan, with breast of spotless white, 
And neck in line of beauty curved, assumed 
His government ; — and round about him swarmM 
Attendants various, tho* of his kind 
Waiting his pleasure, — while from out the reeds 
The Snipe and Teale alternately sprang up, 
Leaving their ambush for the open skies. 



Canto VI.] FIFTH DAY. 191 

Some smaller particles of moistened dust, 
Which by the waters had been dash'd on high, 
Descended in a variegated tribe 
Of forms insectile;— first the Dragon Fly 
His brilliant colours show'd ; — next came the Bee 
Who buzz'd with haste, from blossom unto bloom 
With quick succession flew, and sipp'd their sweets ;— 
Here blew his horn the tiny Gnat, and there 
The Tipula went stilting it along, 
Or Lady-Bird upon a leaf was perch' d — 
While fluttering, in idle giddiness, 
The Butterfly on painted wings appeared, 
With the gay Moth and small Ephemera. 

What happiness prevailed ! No blasting fear, - 
Instinctive of some enemy's approach, 
Stung any little breast, but strong and weak 
Consorted in one peaceful family ! — 
This was their state, when in a gentle breeze, 
A voice more sweet than all their softest notes 
Broke on the air ; they knew the sound, and stood 
In humble attitude to hear their God : — 
if Take now my blessing, and increase and fill 
The seas ye fishes, and ye fowl on earth 

o 



192 THE CREATION. [Canto VI. 

Your natures multiply of sepVate kind ! " — 
Thus spake Jehovah ! — and in melting tones 
The words dissolved, when all was still again, 
For God perceived that ev'ry thing was good. 

And now the Sun in western hemisphere 
Was sinking low on Eden's quiet plain, 
And all the sea and river habitants 
Sought their retreats, and to the trees and rocks 
The birds upflew to roost ; — save the staid Owl 
And Nightingale, who each this season chose, 
Of milder light and more devotional. 
Thus the Fifth Day, by Evening and Morn, 
Was render'd perfect in its measurement. 



END OF CANTO VI. 



NOTES. 



CANTO VI. 

Page 177, line 6. 

whilst the infantine Moon 
So lately bom, as yet no beams dispensed. 

This refers to the new Moon as it is now called, when that body 
reflects no light, and which is intended to be in keeping not only 
with its recent creation, as it seems probable God would cause it to 
commence its office at the peculiar point to the earth, which it as- 
sumes when denominated the new Moon; but also that as in this 
poem, it is made to burst forth from the body of the Sun (created 
in the morning of the previous day), and approach in a direct line 
towards the earth, it being thus but twelve hours old, no part of its 
illuminated side would be visible as yet to the world. 



Page 178, line 13. 

Or Omnipresent Father, who conveys. 

By his intelligence illimitate, 

All hidden knowledge to the other twain. 

The reader must have observed that God is frequently spoken of in 
this work as descending, ascending, and traversing through space ; 

o2 



194 NOTES TO CANTO VT. 

which may appear at first sight not very well in accordance with an 
Omnipresent Being. 

I therefore now return to the doctrine of the Trinity, and intend 
showing, if possible, in what Power, or as it is more generally termed 
Person, the Omnipresence of God is vested, although I trust with 
every feeling of humbleness towards the Divine Being, as no mortal 
can dare to feel confident concerning anything respecting the invi- 
sible world and its glorious ruler. 

It is remarkable that in various places of the Bible, there are texts 
which prove the descent, ascent, and locomotion of the Deity ; but 
they all, I think, very plainly refer to either the Son or the Holy 
Ghost, and not to the Father, in whom, it will be my endeavour now 
to prove, exists this peculiar attribute of Jehovah. 

The idea we entertain of God's omnipresence extends to this, — 
that to whatever place in infinitude we might be enabled to fly, yet 
that He would be there; which is so beautifully described by the 
Psalmist in a text, quoted in a former note. This cannot refer to 
all three portions of the godhead, or else it never could be said he 
descended or ascended, or passed by, or went before, &c. since being 
every where at once, he would (as far as it is possible to argue) be 
always stationary. 

I now give the following texts in proof of the locomotiveness of 
the Deity, or some one of his three portions. 

" And the spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters."— Gen. i. 2. 

" And they heard the voice of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day. " 
—Gen. ill. 8. 

" I am come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians." — Exod. iii. 8. 

" I will pass through the land of Egypt this night, and will smite all the first-bom." — 
Exod. xii. 12. 

" And the Lord went before them by day * * * and by night."— Exod. xiii. 21. 

" And the Lord came down upon Mount Sinai." — Exod. xix. 20. 

" And the Lord descended in the cloud." 

" And the Lord passed by before him." — Exod. xxxiv. 5. 6. 

" Thou hast ascended on high."— Psalji lxviii. 18. 

" And lo ! the heavens were opened unto him, and he saw the spirit of God descending like 
a dove, and lighting upon him." — Mat. iii. 16. 

To these may be added the ascents and descents of our Saviour after 
the resurrection ; as also the appearance of the Holy Ghost on the day 



NOTES TO CANTO VI. 195 

of Pentecost, with many passages in other parts of the Bible, which 
infer the same, too numerous to be quoted. 

Of the two former and latter quotations, the first and last 
clearly refer to the Holy Ghost ; the remaining ones to the Word or 
Son, both being represented in a state of action ; the other texts 
from Exodus, it will now be my endeavour to show, most likely re- 
lated to the Son, although accompanied invisibly by the other two, 
excepting one, of which I shall presently speak. 

We are assured in various parts of the Bible, that no man hath seen 
God, and yet the following is to be found in the same book : — 

"And the Lord spake unto Moses face to face, as a man speaketh unto his friend."— 
Exod. xxxiii. 11. 

Besides others equally contradictory. Yet let not the Infidel 
triumph ; by proceeding a little farther, the whole is explained ; 
for Moses, being- aware that he only saw and spake to one portion 
of his God, viz. the Word or Son, says — 

" I beseech thee shew me thy glory. 

" And he said I will make all my goodness pass before thee, and I will proclaim the name 
of the Lord before thee. * • * * * **** 

" And he said thou canst not see my face, for there shalt no man see me and live. 

"And the Lord said, behold there is a place by me, and thou shalt stand upon a rock ; 

•' And it shall come to pass while my glory passeth by, that I will put thee in a clift of the 
rock, and will cover thee with my hand while I pass by : 

" And I will take away mine hand, and thou shalt see my back parts : but my face shall 
not be seen."— Exod. xxxiii. 18—23. 

" And the Lord passed by before him and proclaimed The Lord, The Lord God." — 
Exod. xxxiv. 6. 

Thus it appears that the Lord spoken of hitherto, as addressing 

Moses, must have been the Son, as he appears only to have been a 

transcendently beautiful man, and towards whom the pious Jew felt 

no other than a proper reverence ; this appears to be corroborated by 

our Saviour's words : 

" No man hath ascended up to heaven, but he that came down from heaven, even the 
Son of man which is in heaven." — John iii. 13. 

But when he promises Moses that all his goodness shall pass before 
him, and that he will proclaim the name of the Lord, i. e. in his 
character of the word, voice, or Son, he will proclaim the Triune God, 



196 NOTES TO CANTO VI. 

which, I submit, is meant by all his goodness ; he makes but one re- 
striction, and that for his own sake, viz. not to show h\s face but only 
his back ; and in order to prevent his dying-, from the mere chance 
of beholding so glorious a sight, he covers him with his hand. 
He then passes by ; and what does he call himself ? not merely the 
Lord his former title, but The Lord, The Lord God ! 

Thus appears an evident distinction between He who talked/#ce 
to face with Moses, being most likely of similar height ; and the Mighty 
Being who covered him afterwards w r ith his hand. Moses perceived 
the difference, for it is said — 

" And Moses made haste and bowed his head towards the earth and worshipped." — Exod. 
xxxiv. 8. 

Which appears rather contrary to the familiar, although respectful 

way in which he had held converse with the Lord before ; but the 

greatest proof that God did not appear to Moses in his character of the 

Trinity is, that when upbraiding Aaron and Miriam for their conduct 

towards this highly favoured servant, he says : — 

" With him will I speak mouth to mouth even apparently, and not in dark speeches, and 
the similitude of the Lord shall he behold."— Num. xii. 8. 

Thus it was the similitude of God, and not God himself, that Moses 
saw face to face, the same who afterwards " was made flesh and dwelt 
among us," and whose glory was beheld, " the glory as of the only 
begotten Son of the Father.'''' 

We now come to the principal point in this note, the omnipresence 
of God ; it has been proved so far that the Son and the Holy Ghost 
appear to have descended, ascended, &c. &c, and which even thus 
seems to deny their omnipresence ; but the words of Jesus, when on 
earth, are still more satisfactory upon this subject, when he says — 

" But the Comforter which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he 
shall teach you all things." — John xiv; 26. 

" For if I go not away the Comforter will not come unto you ; but if I depart I will send 
him unto you." — John xvi. 7- 

Plainly showing that neither Son nor Holy Ghost were omnipresent ; 
the only portion of the Godhead therefore now left for that attribute 
is the Father. 



NOTES TO CANTO VI. 197 

From the following- texts, it is clear the Father has the power 
of being in two places at once ; and if in two, there is no difficulty in 
a dozen, a hundred, or everywhere. 

" Whosoever therefore shall confess me before men, him will I confess also before my 
Father which is in heaven." — Mat. x. 32. 

" Flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven "— 
Mat. xvi. VJ. 

" Their angels do always behold the face of my Father which is in heaven." — Mat. 
xviii. 10. 

" For I am not alone, but I and the Father that sent me." 

" And he that sent me is with me : the Father hath not left me alone." — John viii. 16, 29. 

" The words that I speak unto you I speak not of myself, but the Father that dwelleth in 
me, he doeth the works."— John xiv. 10. 

Thus it is evident that the Father was with Jesus, and in heaven at 
the same period; and therefore, as I have said before, there seems 
no difficulty in believing that he fills infinitude. 

Having- now proved from Scripture in whom the omnipresence of 
God is vested, I come to a more specific argumentation from my 
former note upon the Trinity. 

It is singular, that even the mind of a man has the faculty of multi- 
presence ; for although he may be in Paris, and therefore of course his 
mind there also, yet may he be frequently, to all intents and purposes, 
absent from that city, whilst his mind is running over old scenes and 
favourite haunts in London. But some will say, this is only memory; 
but memory, let me tell the caviller, is multipresence ; and thus our 
minds are able to contemplate, again and again, scenes that have long 
passed away, while our bodies can only partake of the present. 

To give another example : if several persons, when out pursuing any 
rural sport, should all be divided from one another and from the 
one who has been appointed their leader, and they happen to be 
placed at different distances from that one ; and he calls to each 
in quick succession, giving them certain directions ; although his 
mind is with him, yet is it with them also, and is conveyed by his 
voice to the listeners, and thus perhaps in separate directions, arrives 
to each one at the same moment. 

If these powers then appertain to the minds of men, shackled as 
they are by mortal bodies, how much more so to the Father or mind 



198 NOTES TO CANTO VI. 

of Jehovah, the eternal God ! Thus was the Father or mind ever 

present with the voice or Son Jesus Christ, while in this world, 

although in heaven at the same time, and thus he fills Infinitude, 

and conveys instantaneous information of every occurrence to the 

throne of the Triune God ; explaining the text :— 

" No man can come to me, except the Father which hath sent me, draw him."— John 
vi. 44. 

For the Father must first act upon that portion of the man which 
has originally proceeded from him, viz. the mind; hy showing him 
his sinful state and need of a Saviour: thus he is drawn in prayer to 
Christ or the Son, who accepting his word or voice of supplication, 
the third part of the godhead, or Holy Ghost, completes the work by 
sanctifying the penitent's soul, his peculiar care and offspring. 

To conclude, then, it appears likely that the reason why neither 
Moses nor any other man could look upon the full godhead, is from the 
circumstance that God's face beams the unequalled splendour of his 
mind; and which is exemplified by the circumstance that men gene- 
rally display their mental powers and feelings in their countenances. 
From the gaze of some, we seem to shrink with instinctive horror ; to 
others we are drawn by an unaccountable predilection in their favour ; 
all more or less shew in their faces the various passions that agitate 
them. Thus no man could look upon God and live, the sight would 
be too dazzling ; and the more so, since all are sinners, and therefore 
must meet his frown, for until they die, they are not loosed from the 
bonds of sin by our Saviour's atonement ; then and then only, when 
presented perfect in his blood, can they gaze upon the eternal God, 
whose face only glowing with love and encouragement, becomes the 
Sun of gladness in which they bask for ever. 



Page 179, line 10. 
He moved upon the waters, and them filVd, 
From his own breast, with oxygenic stream. 
It is ailowed by all scientific characters, from actual experiment 



NOTES TO CANTO VI. 199 

that the portion necessary to animal life, either in air or water, is the 
oxygen therein contained; and that, without this, no animated crea- 
tures could exist. 

Light, one of the vital principles, has already been represented as 
proceeding- from God, the only original source of life ; Air, the other, 
has likewise been deduced from the same omniferous origin ; but 
as yet the waters have not been instilled with any decided powers 
for the support of vitality : at this period of the work, therefore, they 
are collected in their several depths, purified from all attaint, and only 
requiring the introduction of this important agent to continue their 
purity, and render them fit for the respiration of their peculiar in- 
habitants : God therefore, in the above lines, appears performing this 
necessary operation previous to the fish being called into being. 



Page 181, line 9. 

he to the lowest depths 
Darted his beams, and ivith electric shock 
Struck life into the lifeless. 

Directly after the labouring waters had by their travail conceived 
and produced their offspring, the Sun rises in order to give the 
vital spark necessary to them all, light being the superior source of 
life ; for although the waters had become capable of being respired 
by their inhabitants, yet until they had received the more refined 
principle of life, which is light, they could not benefit by the less 
refined, which is the oxygen, or purified air. 

" I now purpose giving a few hints respecting the nature of light ; 
and notwithstanding it is utterly impossible, as I have said before, that 
we can form any idea of its composition, yet we may in some degree 
conjecture its possible mode of production. 

By the generation of heat we can always produce light ; but this I 
imagine proceeds, as before observed, from the indwelling principle of 
the flame in those objects, when being brought in contact either by 



200 NOTES TO CANTO VI. 

friction or a blow. But we also know that heat ma}' exist without any 
outbursting of light, although it is still there, only requiring some 
additional impulse to produce an instantaneous blaze. 

All created objects therefore have no natural warmth, they only 
possessing such from the presence of light : for as soon as the vital prin- 
ciple is flown, the substance becomes cold ; witness the dead body of 
a man. And yet, strange to say, this frigidity is not instantaneous, 
but progressive ; in proportion, I imagine, as all life departs, for in 
the fresh slain body of an animal, the flesh continues a sort of creep- 
ing action until quite cold. 

Now, therefore, the only Being in existence who can possess intrin- 
sic heat is God, since he, never dying, and never having had an origin, 
can possess it in no other way; there having been no period at 
which he could have received or assumed it, nor any at which it will 
depart from him, he being eternally the same. That his essence con- 
tains heat, and to any degree of temperature he chooses, it is unneces- 
sary for a moment to argue, Revelation being perfectly clear upon that 
point. 

" God is light!" Well then, it appears but probable that he is thus 
styled from the circumstance of possessing intrinsic heat, and upon 
which, by the action of his Almighty mind, he produces various effects ; 
in love, beaming the most transcendant brightness ; in anger, blazing 
with devouring fire ; at other times restraining his effulgence, and 
only suffering his prolific warmth to remain. 

Thus heat produces light ; the concentration of light, fire ; and 
therefore, the Sun was no doubt created by the " Father of lights" 
a fervent body, having received its warmth from him direct ; and 
which will continue to emit its splendour by innate action into 
space, until that period when we are told it will " become dark," 
when having expended the action necessary to keep up succession, 
it will no longer afford light, and thus render all dark around it. 
The same, of course, may be said of the similar heavenly bodies. 

The consideration of the nature of light, whether material ox imma- 
terial^ appears naturally the next subject, and Avhich perhaps pre- 
sents more difficulty than anything else respecting it. 



NOTES TO CANTO VI. 201 

As I have before said, immateriality does not mean nonentity ; but 
such as cannot be seen by mortal eye, or distinguished by mortal 
touch, although perfectly perceptible and tangible to immortals. As 
I intend, before concluding' this work, to give an express note upon 
Materiality and Immateriality, endeavouring there to define their 
peculiar attributes more particularly, as also the exact point at 
which they meet, and as light will then be again discussed, I shall 
only for the present state that, in my idea, light partakes in so small a 
degree of materialism, and in so large a one of immaterialism, that 
in fact it is composed almost entirely of the latter. That heat which 
produces it, is entirely immaterial, I shall also endeavour to show, 
and that immaterialism is neither more nor less than the origin and 
supporting cause of all materiality. 



Page 181, line 14. 

Of matter, into which the turbid waves 
Had been congeaVd. 
Any one who has observed the sea in a state of violence, will re- 
member seeing it of very different aspect to its general appearance, 
as it then becomes thick with mud and sand : large quantities of 
clammy matter floating about upon its surface ; it seems very probable 
therefore, that it was thus affected when commanded by God to bring 
forth ; and thus its inhabitants partook of the properties both of 
. earth and water. 



Page 181, line 22. 

Thro' his impervious scales the solar ray 
Pierced to his centre. 

For a full description of Leviathan, of which monster we have 
no trace at the present day, I refer the reader to the 41st chapter of 



202 NOTES TO CANTO VI. 

Job; but he is there described as being invulnerable even to air, 
although, of course, subject with every thing else in nature to the 
electrical powers of light, as his impenetrability could not extend to 
that irresistible fluid. 

Many have thought that Leviathan meant no other than the Alliga- 
tor ; but if such were the case, how absurd would it have been of 
Moses, in his poem of Job, to represent it as impossible for that monster 
to be conquered by Man, when we know their capture and destruction 
is an every day's occurrence, and that a single Indian will undertake 
to attack one in its own element, and bring it in triumph dead to the 
shore : as also that in many places they are bred in ponds near palaces, 
the same as gold and silver fish. This is somewhat different to the 
representation of Leviathan in Job. 



Page 182, line 12. 

Farther away the Flying Fish was chased 

By the Dorado. 
The greatest enemy of the Flying Fish at the present day is the 
Dorado ; whole shoals will be pursued by one, and devoured in suc- 
cession ; it is common, in these struggles for life, for the little perse- 
cuted creatures to swim as long as possible, and when nearly caught, 
to rise above the surface, fluttering along, until exhausted, they fall 
unresisting into the mouth of their foe. The Dorado is by sailors 
improperly called Dolphin. 



Page 182, line 20. 
The spheric Diodon next showed itself 
And swelVd beneath the Sun. 
This remarkable fish has the extraordinary power of blowing itself 
out in a spherical shape of great size, by which it erects several sharp 
spines in different parts of its body to protect it from attack. 



NOTES TO CANTO VI. 203 

Page 184, line 17. 

The Nautilus besteer'd his fragile bark, 
While th 1 Urchi?i ran along beneath his helm. 

The Sea Urchin is a beautiful little shell fish, of the shape of an 
irregular spheroid, which may be seen in clear water, running upon 
the sand beneath ; whereas the Nautilus always sails on the surface. 



Page 184, line 18. 

And first the Pike in sportive gambols flashed 
, Neath the transparent stream. 

The angler will at once perceive the intention of the above de- 
scription, since he knows the instant that he must give line, by 
the lightning-like flash beneath the water, from the white belly of 
the Pike when he seizes the bait as his prey. 



Page 185, line 3. 

The circling evidence ofjoyfulness. 

Who can look at the water on a fine day, and behold upon its surface, 
circle within circle diverging from a common centre, without feeling 
grateful to that Being who has enabled every creature, even to the fish, 
not only to be happy, but to give proof to others of their enjoyment. 



Page 186, line 3. 

whatever tints he shed, 
These they retained. 

It has been seen that not only the fish, but also fowl, have been 
produced by the waters, when teeming with commotion ; and which 
is to agree with the command of God in the 1st chapter of Genesis, 
verse 20 : but as in the 2d chapter, verse 19, it says : — 



204 NOTES TO CANTO VI. 

" And out of the ground the Lord God formed every beast of the field and every fowl of 
the air," 

it has been here represented that the waters, having- dashed up on 
high their spray mixed with portions of earth, descending-, took the 
shapes of birds, the Sun's rays refracting through these watery parti- 
cles, giving the various tints to their plumage ; in some cases the same 
eifect being produced by the peculiar colour of the soil carried up- 
wards. 

And heae let me take occasion to notice an error which Sir 
Isaac Newton committed, when he stated that refracted light pre- 
sented seven primitive colours, viz. red, orange, yellow* green, blue, 
indigo, and purple ; which proceeded from his not being an artist, 
or he would not have thus erred; but seeing seven distinct tints, 
this great man naturally supposed they were all primitive, as being 
contained in light : there are, however, but three primitive colours 
viz. red, yellow, and blue, the other four being produced by the 
blending of their rays. 

This note brings me to a most remarkable fact respecting light, and 
which more than ever renders it probable that it proceeded direct 
from God himself. It has often been observed, that the two extraordi- 
nary numbers mentioned in Holy Writ, are three and seven ; indeed, 
they are the only ones that are alluded to as being perfect. In a note 
further on I shall give some texts to prove this position ; but since 
the Bible says " God is light,'" 1 what can be more beautiful, or cor- 
roborative of the Trinity, than to discover that light contains three 
distinct colours, which, while single, are beautiful, but when uniting, 
surpass as a whole in splendour any one when by itself ; and then to 
find that these again form other four, making seven, the favourite 
number of God. 

What makes the diamond more valued and admired than other 
stones ? because it possesses the colours of all the rest. So Jehovah 
is the diamond of Heaven, who in his one glorious form will, when he 
"makes up his jewels," emit from his own brilliant countenance 
the different colours of excellency that shall stamp with varied value 
the gems of Paradise redeemed by himself. 



NOTES TO CANTO VI. 205 

Page 187, line 10. 

the dauntless Shrike 
Of size diminutive ; 

The Shrike or Butcher Bird is not larger than a sparrow ; but of 
such courage that it will attack any other bird of prey, be it ever so 
large ; in fact, many fear to encounter it who are ten times its size. 



Page 187, line 17. 
Or quick-eyed Bustard cropped the berried heath. 

This bird is always so on the alert, that it is almost impossible for 
the fowler to approach within shot of it. 

There is a tradition concerning the hen bustard (but which I should 
imagine, like all traditions, possesses very little truth), that when ap- 
proached by the hunter in their setting season, she takes her eggs 
under her wings and flies away with them to some place of safety. 



Page 188, line 5. 

Whilst the Pintada, on extended flats 

With restless motion, sought its nourishment. 

The Pintada or Guinea Hen is remarkable for an ever restless 
motion, as in their native country they are seen in large flocks feeding 
their young. 



Page 190, line 1. 

And Bittern, from his ample chest sent forth 
A booming call, that echoed 'mongst the rocks. 
A rather small bird, that from its amplitude of lungs is able to pro- 
duce an almost terrific sound, which is generally heard about their 
mating or breeding time. 



20G NOTES TO CANTO VI. 

Page 190, line 11. 

In constant friendship with the Penguin swam 
Its bold companion the great Albatross. 
The friendship existing between these two birds is quite extraordi- 
nary, since wherever you find one you are almost sure to discover 
the other, although one is very gentle and the other very fierce. 



Page 191, line 14. 

What happiness prevaiVd ! no blasting fear, 
Instinctive of some enemy's approach, 
Stung any little breast. 
There is little doubt that, before the Fall, there were no birds or 
beasts of prey ; but on the contrary, that all were happy and fearless. 
It is curious to observe how animals, although they have never been 
attacked before, yet shrink from a common enemy ; this is another 
instance of the presence of instinct. 



Page 191, line 20. 

they knew the sound, and stood 
In humble attitude to hear their God. 

That the animals would recognize the voice of God, seems likely 
from the circumstance of the Almighty addressing them at the crea- 
tion, thus : " increase and multiply ;" since had it been otherwise he 
would have said, let them increase and multiply ; and as we know 
the brute creation, &c. maybe taught to understand man's voice and 
commands, their being able to comprehend their God does not appear 
improbable, particularly as they have minds. 



CANTO VII. 



" And God said, let the earth bring forth the living creature after his kind, cattle, and 
creeping thing, and beast of the earth after his kind : and it was so. 

" And God made the beast of the earth after his kind, and cattle after their kind, and 
every thing that creepeth upon the earth after his kind : and God saw that it was good. 

" And God said, let us make Man in our image, after our likeness : and let them have 
dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over 
all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth."— Gen. i. 24 to 26. 

" And the Lord God formed Man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils 
the breath of life ; and Man became a living soul. 

" And the Lord God planted a garden eastward in Eden ; and there he put the Man whom 
he had formed. 

" And out of the ground made the Lord God to grow every tree that is pleasant to the 
sight and good for food ; the tree of life also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of 
knowledge of good and evil. 

" And the Lord God commanded the Man, saying, of every tree of the garden thou mayest 
freely eat : 

" But of the tree of knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it : for in the day 
that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die. 

" And the Lord God said, it is not good that the Man should be alone ; I will make him 
a help-meet for him. 

" And Adam gave names to all cattle, and to the fowl of the air, and to every beast of the 
field ; but for Adam, there was not found an help-meet for him. 

" And the Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall upon Adam, and he slept : and he took 
one of his ribs, and closed up the flesh instead thereof. 

" And the rib, which the Lord God had taken from Man, made he a woman, and brought 
her unto the Man. 

" And Adam said, this is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh : she shall be 
called Woman, because she was taken out Man."— Gen. ii. 7 to 9, 16 to 18, and 20 to 23. 

" So God created Man in his own image, in the image of God created he him ; male and 
female created he them. 

" And God blessed them, and God said unto them, be fruitful, and multiply, and reple- 
nish the earth, and subdue it : and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl 
of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth. 

" And God said, behold I have given you every herb bearing seed, which is upon the face 
of all the earth, and every tree, in the which is the fruit of a tree yielding seed ; to you it 
shall be for meat. 

" And to every beast of the earth, and to every fowl of the air, and to every thing that 
creepeth upon the earth, wherein there is life, I have given every green herb for meat : and 
it was so. 

" And God saw every thing that he had made, and, behold, it was very good. And the 
evening and the morning were the sixth day."— Gen. i. 27 to 31. 



ARGUMENT. 



Creation being lulled in repose, the Owl and Nightingale alone 
keeping watch, God (in a rushing wind) commands the earth to bring 
forth. — Accordingly the land, torn up by the hurricane, assumes differ- 
ent shapes. — At this instant a drenching shower falls, and congluti- 
nates them into various forms. — Thus, they lay all night condensing, 
when the Sun rising, animates them. — They come by degrees to life, 
as if from a state of torpor waking. — Description of Behemoth, the 
Hippopotamus, and several other animals.' — The Father and the Holy 
Ghost speaking through the Word, propose making Man in their own 
image. — Adam is formed, and God breathes into him the breath of 
life. — The Man, from superior intellect, silently acknowledges a Divine 
Being. — The Lord then plants a garden eastward in Eden, where 
he puts the Man. — Adam, struck with gratitude, prays to be informed 
how he may please God. — He is then informed of the necessity of 
abstaining from the Tree of Knowledge, — Adam, ruminating upon 
death, determines it must be the loss of God's favour. — The Ele- 
phant attracts all the other creatures together, to behold their new 
monarch. — Their order, several sorts being mentioned. — God com- 
mands Man to name the animals, which he does, perceiving he is 
the only one without a mate. — Sleep falling on Adam, God forms 
Woman. — Adam's dream. — The Woman, on his waking, bespeaks 
him. — Adam again glorifies God. — The Almighty cautions them both. 
— They seek a place of repose. — The Woman falling asleep, Adam 
blesses her. — The evening and the morn are thus the Sixth Day. 



CANTO SEVENTH, 



©fie <&vtation. 



Sleep's sombre mantle had enveloped now 
The whole creation, and all living forms 
Were lulFd in calm forgetfulness ; — except 
The guardant Owl and wakeful Nightingale, 
The one patrolling, in a wheeling course 
Of aerial wardenship, thro' the night, 
With watch-song shrill doled out the passing hour 
Whilst on a spray the other cheer'd his beat 
With tones of sweet encouragement, as oft 
He from extensive circuiting repair'd 
Again to his lone cell ; — and o'er their heads 
The Stars look'd down benignly, while the Moon 
Now in the heav'n display'd a crescent streak 
Of feeble light ; — when in a rushing wind 
God spake the earth this ultimate behest : — 
p 2 



2\0 THE CREATION. [Canto VII 

" Let the ground teem the living creature's kind, 
Cattle, and creeping thing, and evVy beast, 
As fit inhabitants to dwell on land."" 

He said, — when lo ! the whirling hurricane, 
Driving along (where neither plant nor herb 
As yet had taken root), tore up the soil, 
And roird it over into divers forms 
Thro' lanes of dust ; — when from the sky above, 
Now clouded o'er, a drenching shower pour'd 
In torrents down, mingling the scatter^ mould 
Until reduced to shapes conglutinate. 

These thro"' the night (the rain first having ceased) 
Lay torpidly condensing, and within 
Forming the many functions of their frames 
Needful to life, — when from afar, the Sun, 
Again returning with hale countenance, 
Rose from his ocean bed, and straight assumed 
The animating of the sluggish group. 

Soon had the genial warmth unto their hearts 
Given an impulse, to propel along 
The channels of their limbs the tepid blood, 



Canto VII.] SIXTH DAY. 211 

Which heating gradually in their veins, 

At length attaint the uttermost degree 

Of healthful vital warmth ; — whilst they began, 

As if from slumber waking, to out-stretch 

Some their huge members with a heavy groan ; 

Others from folds most intricate uncoil'd ; 

All, both the pondVous and the weak, gave signs 

Of consciousness increasing ; — when the Sun, 

Now in meridian, darted down a ray 

Which ran electrically thro*' the whole, 

Who springing up, each to their haunts retired. 

First, with a bound, Behemoth to his legs 
Sprang from the earth, and rushing to the floods, 
With greedy eyes, began so vast a draught 
As tho"* a river would but hardly slake 
His urgent thirst ; — yet when at length refreshed, 
He laid him down upon an osier bed, 
Fann'd from above by willows of the brook. 

In mute amaze, the Hippopotamus, 
Who had been form'd near the pellucid stream^ 
Gazed on this giant who so far excelPd 
His own capacities : — then diving dash'd 



212 THE CREATION. [Canto VII. 

Into the waves, and quickly disappear^, 
Perambulating yellow sands beneath 
In search of food ; when from his deep retreat 
Emerging, he besought the jungled plain. 

Grazing thro 1 vallies, or on sloping downs 
Browsing sweet thyme, the cattle onwards moved, 
Whilst more vivacious beasts fled to the woods - 3 
Or climb'd the mountain or the lofty crag, 
Leaping from peak to peak, or in the dales, 
With friendly sport, vied in the fleeting race. 
Here ran the Roe, and as the Leopard chased 
Its bounding form, the striped Hyaena laugh'd 
With harmless mirth at the disportive play. 

In other parts the great Rhinoceros, 
Swathed in his maily coat, betook his way, 
And Armadillo and the Pangolin 
Impenetrably clad ; — and on the shore 
The Tapir walk'd, and Beaver built his hut, 
Or Otter swam the waters ; while the Bear 
His antics watch'd ; — upon the rocks outstretch'd 
The thick-skinn'd Walrus and the Seal appear'd. 
Or Alligator lying at his length. 



Canto VII.] SIXTH DAY, 213 

So all was finish'd, save the final deed 
Of God's Creativeness, whose wisdom held 
It long reserved in order to become 
The wond'rous climax of his mighty work,— 
When, in high counsel thro' the filial Word 
Thus said the Father and the Holy Ghost : — 

" Let Us, in Our Similitude, make Man, 
To rule the habitants of sea and air, 
And have dominion over ev'ry beast, 
Or reptile crawling on the face of earth ; 
Here, as Our Representative, to stand 
The wise Vicegerent of this nether World.'' 

God spake, — and from the humid soil he cull'd 
A mound elect of finer dust and pure 
For his great purpose, and with bis own hands 
Kneaded the pliant clay, till moulded out 
Into a statue of majestic mien ; — 
Then raised it up, and on the frigid lips 
Embalmed the kiss of peace, and from his breast 
Immortal virtue, instantaneously, 
Entered the lifeless form from all the Three,-— 
And Man henceforth became a living Soul :— 



214 THE CREATION. [Canto VII. 

As rush'd the Mind up to the thoughtful brain, 
As pierced the Spirit to the conscious heart, 
He knew his God, and falling at his feet, 
In silence worshipp'd, and adored in truth. 

Eastward in Eden, at a chosen spot, 
The Lord a garden planted, and there placed 
The Man whom he had form'd ; — here provident 
Forth from the ground he had compell'd to grow 
Each tree delightful to the sight ; — or food 
Appropriate : — and rising in the midst 
The first of Artocarpine genus spread 
Its sinuous broad leaves, and 'mongst the boughs 
The staff of life as bread-like fruit hung down ; 
While round its towVing stem embraced the Vine, 
Whose clusters had the power to supply 
Knowledge of good and evil, striking down 
Its central root to Hell, the rest around, 
Threading a purer loom, little removed 
Beneath the surface : — and on ev'ry side 
Branches from other stocks, with produce bent, 
Woo'd to be tasted, in their shining rinds 
Gemming all Paradise with varied hues. 
To cool the land a shVry stream went forth 



Canto VII.] SIXTH DAY. 215 

From Eden's fount, flowing o'er beds of gold 
And onyx stone ; — and thence into four heads 
Disparting, each a sepVate route partook. 

Soon as our first Progenitor perceived 
Himself upborne, by the Invisible, 
Into a fairer region, — there to dress 
And tend its luxury, — deep gratitude 
His tongue with speach of inspiration moved 
As thus he praised the bounty of his God : — 

" Oh thou my Maker, can I e'er repay 
Thy goodness ? — whence have I deserved these proofs 
Of loving kindness? — teach me Lord to scan 
Thy purpose, if perchance I may return 
Thy blessings in the gift of light and life 
And all these beauties ! — Would I knew thy will, 
To earnest give of my sincerity ; — 
Speak Lord, — declare, — I listen to obey." 

" Adam, observe thy promise, for to give 
Aught as in recompense is not thy pow'r ; 
Thou art my creature, therefore can enact 
Naught but thro' me, yet,— for thy good alone, — 



216 THE CREATION. [Canto VII. 

Behold yon tree, which, in the centre placed 

Of this fair garden, bears the fruit of life ! 

Of that each morn partake ; — but round its trunk 

Another twines, whose taste insidious 

Gives knowledge both of evil and of good, — 

More of the first than second rankling hides 

Within its cluster'd berries, — eat not thence, 

For in the day of infidelity 

To this command thou diest : — form'd from dust., 

Whose origin impure, was purified 

By my omnipotence, — soon as the juice, 

Poisons thy palate, in yon husks contained, 

Thou wilt become polluted, by the source 

From which thou hast so lately been refined 

As part of earth ; — of all the rest enjoy 

Much as thou wilt, but on that fatal tree 

No venture make, — remember, — life or death." 

Struck with an holy awe, thus inwardly 
Adam communed : — " O words of import great ! 
Whose urgent stress yet thrills my beating heart, 
What mean ye ? — what portends this threaten'd death ?— 
Perchance the loss of Him I so adore, 
And intercourse sublime; — full well I know, 



Canto VII.] SIXTH DAY. 217 

If dying be to lose all happiness, 

By losing him I should most surely die." 

While thus he ponder'd, the Almighty said, 
" It is not good that Man should be alone, 
I'll make him a Help-meet : " — but first he caused 
The sapient Elephant to wend his way 
Near to the spot where our first father stood, 
Bright as a demi-god ; — each, for awhile, 
Astonish'd gazed upon the other's form, 
The one perceiving the enormous strength 
And greater substance of his admirer ; 
The other, reading in the human eye 
A deeper wisdom, far excelling his, 
Felt that he saw in him his future lord ; 
Then slowly raised his trunk, and blew a blast, 
Which echoing the many hills among, 
Down came all flesh to pay the homage due 
To their fair Monarch ; — while with hurried wing 
The fowl alighted round on evVy tree. 

Foremost, among the assembled host, stood forth 
The noble Lion, while on either side 
The Tiger and the Panther took their post 



218 THE CREATION. [Canto VII, 

As his attendants ; and behind, the Wolf 

And Jackal ; — on the right, appeared in state 

The gallant Horse, by the sleek Zebra flank'd 

And sturdier Quagga, as in the rear 

Stood humbly one, whose kind in after-time 

Was on his back to bear e'en God himself. 

The left the Bison held, and him the Bull 

And Buffalo supported, and the Ram 

And Goat composed their train ; — and round about 

Bounded the antler'd Stag and Antelope, 

Or graceful Gnu and beaming-eyed Gazelle, 

With num'rous others, while the branches shed 

The brilliant colours of the feather'd tribe. 

In wonderment at the surrounding crowd, 
Adam sought wisdom from the only Source, 
When God thus answer'd : — " Son, behold these groups 
Of living creatures, which I have ordain'd 
To be thy subjects, name them for thyself." 
This said Jehovah, who with Father's love 
Joy'd in the developement of the mind 
Of one so promising ; who soon display 'd 
No small capacity, but quickly scanned 
The sepVate natures of each animal, 



Canto VIT.J SIXTH DAY. 219 

And gave appropriate names. Yet for him 
No mate was found, awhile all others had 
Their needful consorts :— thus he soon perceived 
His loneliness of equal company, — 
Yet felt contented, well entrusting God 
Sought his advantage, and most like withheld 
This gift, to draw him nearer to himself. 

Soon one by one the conclave had dispersed, 
And all departed, save the faithful Dog, 
Who, crouching at his master's feet, reclined, 
And lick'd the hand of him he fondly loved, 
From that time forth ; — nor left him when a breeze 
Zephyral weigh'd his eyelids down in sleep 
Of soft siesta : — while he slept, the Lord 
From him a rib abstracted near his heart, 
And closing up the flesh, a Woman form'd 
Of the life-reeking bone, and by his side 
Placed her — perfection of all loveliness ! 

Meanwhile the slumb'ring Man a vision saw 
Enchanting to his senses ; — for behold, 
He thought him on a bed of violets 
Recumbent stretched ; — when, as if magical, 



THE CREATION. [Canto VIT 

A creature fairer than all other fair 

Came to his couch and said, — " Adam, arise, 

Why linger here ? I need thy care, my lord ! 

My life! on whom I must henceforth depend, 

Like as yon tree of evil and of good, 

Clings to the pillar of vitality ; 

Good while unsever'd from its purer stem, 

Evil alone but in forbidden taste ; * 

Such one am I." — Meantime with ravishment 

Our first Paternal gazed upon the face 

Divinely graced with lily and the rose, 

And flowing ringlets of a sunny hue. 

Her shape resembling his, tho 1 softer mould, 

And less robust conformity of limb ; 

Then rush'd convulsive to enclose the form 

In his fond arms, which so inviting stood 

With unaffected innocence : — when lo ! 

A waken 1 d by the effort from his trance, 

He found the being whom he so admired 

Lock'd in his warm embrace, and with a smile 

Of dimpled playfulness upon her cheek. 

Beaming affection ; — thus he still believed 

That he was dreaming, till in accents soft 

She thus the first enraptured lover spake : — 



Canto VII.] SIXTH DAY. 221 

" Adam, behold in me thy second self, 
Whom God hath framed from a subtracted bone 
Of thine own body, that we might be One 
For evermore ! — Oh let our hearts unite 
In love to Him who had contrived such bliss 
To be our portion ere we yet were form , d. r> 

She said ; — and he, transported with delight, 
Enamoured gazed upon her innocent, 
Then knelt him down, and raised his pious hands 
To his kind Parent, and with fervent voice 
Pour'd out his grateful soul in praise devout : — 

" Great God, I thank thee ! — how could I have weeii'd, 
Already bless'd so much beyond desert, 
Thou had'st a joy in store! — but now discern 
There is no end to thy untiring grants 
Of all felicity ; — for I perceived, 
As round me gather'd the admiring crowd 
Of Animals, that each possess'd its mate, 
But no Help-meet for me was to be found ; 
Yet dared not ask, feeling I ready owed 
More than I e'er could pay ; but thou in love 
Hast now this Woman given me, — for so 



222 THE CREATION. [Canto VII. 

Let her be call'd, — as taken out of Man, 
Bone of my bones, and of my flesh, the flesh." 

Thus Adam glorified his Maker ; — when 
A small melodious voice upon his ear 
Broke with enchanting tones ; — the Man bethought 
At first it was his consort, but perceived 
Her lips were motionless, and that she knelt 
In adoration ; — thus he, undeceived, 
Knew that the sounds proceeded from his God, 
Who spake more loving than he yet had done. 

" Adam, upon thyself and wife depends 
Continuance of thy peace ; — thou hast heard 
My strict injunction, teach it thou to her :•— 
Take now my blessing ; both, — thou my fair son, 
And thou pure daughter of my providence ; 
Be fruitful, multiply ye, and subdue 
All earth, and have dominion over fish, 
And fowl, and evYy living thing : — behold 
To you each tree, with fruit containing seed, 
I give for meat, and ev'ry verdant herb 
For food of beast, and bird, and reptile kind : — 
Bless ye my children, — bless ye, saith your God V 



Canto VII.] SIXTH DAY. 223 

'Twas afternoon, and the long ev'ning shades 
Were fast approaching, when the happy pair, 
Hand within hand, bestept the flow'ry plain 
In search of resting place : — within a grove 
Of branching cedars, was a mossy bank 
Pillow'd with violets ; — washing the base 
A murmuring rivulet, whose gentle sound 
Whisper d of sleep, flow'd on ; — upon a spray 
The turtle dove woo'd his devoted mate, 
And all the feather'd race nestled to roost, 
Luird by the Nightingale ; — here laid they down ; 
And whiled away a swift enchanting hour 
With varied converse ; till the female eye, 
In slumber, closed serene : — then rose the Man, 
And with extended palm, thus bless'd his bride. 

" O sweetest flower of all Paradise ; 
My life's best blood ; my far the better part ; 
How I regard thee ! — listen thou fond bird, 
That to thy mate coos so endearingly ; 
And thou chaste songster of the night, give ear 
To my enraptured strain ; — behold, here sleeps 
One that excels thee both in heart and voice, 
Jehovah's master-piece ; the certain proof 

a 



224 THE CREATION. [Canto VII. 

That God is love, or else he ne'er had form'd 
A being so affectionate and fair : — 
And thou, O Lord ! my greater witness be ! 
That I most value that thou gave the last !" 

Thus, o'er his lovely wife, young Adam spake 
In blandishment sincere ; when, by her side 
Reclining softly, he fell back to rest, 
Soliloquising. — But there yet was One, 
Who never sleeps, still hov'ring o'er their couch ; 
'Twas God ; He seeing all was very good, 
Mounted to Heaven. — Thus the E'en and Morn 
The Sixth Day finish'd of this Wond'rous Work ; 
Which none but God has power to destroy. 



END OF CANTO VII. 



NOTES. 



CANTO VII. 

Pago 210, line 6. 

tore up the soil, 
And rolVd it over into divers forms 
Thro'' lanes of dust. 

A very general idea has prevailed, that at the creation all the 
land animals (with the exception of man) rose at the command of 
God out of the earth ; first erecting their heads, then their bodies ; 
when at length, breaking loose from their maternal soil y each sought 
its proper retreat. 

Far be it from me to assert that such was not the case ; yet, I 
think the reader will allow the following objections have some weight. 

Firstly, that the trees and plants had been so produced, and there- 
fore it seems probable the animals (quite another class of nature) 
would not be created after the same fashion. 

Secondly, that although man was essentially different to the brute 
creation, &c. from the circumstance of possessing an immortal soul, 
yet, as he resembles them so nearly in functions of body, it does appear 
but likely they would be formed more after the process which was 
pursued in his creation; and therefore as he did not rise out of the 
ground, but was shapen from its dust, it is not very probable they 
would be created in any way differing from him ; except, that 
God actually formed man, while all others were the work of his word, 

Q 2 



22G NOTES TO CANTO VII. 

And thirdl)'', that although the Almighty has the power to create 
in an instant any being- he may see fit, yet, that it seems likely every 
thing went through some process in its formation ; as if not, creation, 
instead of being the work of six days, would have been the act of a 
few minutes ; in fact, the time only necessary for reading the first 
two chapters of Genesis ; and, therefore, it is improbable that the 
animals rose at once perfect from the ground. 

Accordingly, it appears more proper to imagine them taking some 
hours in their creation ; and being part of the external surface of the 
earth, as in the case of man ; they being intended to move free and 
unencumbered upon that surface ; differing thus from vegetation, 
which having sprung from its bowels, required ever after to be sta- 
tionary, and to seek nourishment from internal resources. 

Some might say that the words, in the first chapter of Genesis are, 
" Let the earth bring forth the living creature," &c. ; the same ex- 
pression used in creating the plants ; but there is an essential differ- 
ence in the verses that follow each command ; for in the one case it 
says, " And God made the beast," &c. ; while in the other the words 
are, " And the earth brought forth grass," &c. ; evidently inferring 
that the process differed in the two cases : as also to bring forth, or 
teem, does not mean only the producing from the interior, but any 
bearing of offspring; the oyster brings forth young, although they 
are borne on the external surface of its shell, instead of internally : 
but it may be said, if the words are " God made the beast," &c. ; why 
not suppose He pursued the same mode with them as with man, in- 
stead of creating them by indirect means? To this I answer, that 
the expressions again differ ; as it says, " And the Lord God formed 
man," &c. ; and that to make, and to form, are two very different 
things, the one meaning any mode of creation, the other generally 
inferring manual operativeness. 

The same arguments apply to the means by which the inhabitants 
of the seas and rivers are represented in this Poem, to have been pro- 
duced ; and thus all the elements are made the participating instru- 
ments in God's creative work ; a principle which we witness in nature 
continually, up to the present time. 



NOTES TO CANTO VII. 227 

Page 211, line 7- 
All, both the ponderous and the weak, gave signs 
Of consciousness inweasing ; — 

Most of the ideas in the present poem have been taken from a 
close observation of nature ; and are not, as many at first might sup- 
pose, the mere floating whims of imagination. 

The supposition of the Sun being the agent of life, in the creation 
of the fish, fowl, and other inferior animals, is formed from the cir- 
cumstance of its so often, even now, animating various morbid bodies ; 
such as the eggs of insects, ostrich, crocodile, &c. 



Page 211, line 19. 

the Hippopotamus 
Who had been form 'd near the pellucid stream, 
Gazed on this giant who so far eoccelVd 
His own capacities : — 

I have purposely placed the above animal directly after Behemoth, 
from the circumstance of commentators generally believing that they 
were one and the same creature ; a supposition of which, I think, 1 
shall soon expose the fallacy. 

In the first place, there is nothing in the book of Job, where Behe- 
moth is mentioned, from which to infer he was an amphibious animal ; 
now the Hippopotamus is ; it seems therefore more probable that he 
was the largest beast of earth; while Leviathan (which, as I have 
before said, has been equally erroneously supposed to be the Alliga- 
tor) is spoken of as the greatest sea monster. 

Again, it says, " He moveth his tail like a cedar ;" while every 
one knows that the tail of the Hippopotamus, like that of the Ele- 
phant, is small even to insignificance ; and therefore Moses, who is 
generally supposed to be the author of that beautiful poem, is made 
to appear either ignorant, or a, false historian. 

And lastly, our knowing no such animal in the present day, is 
not a proof of its never having been existent ; for even men formerly 



228 NOTES TO CANTO VII. 

were larger and lived longer than we do ; as also the bones of immense 
and unknown creatures are often found in the bowels of the earth, 
supposed to be antediluvian remains. 



Page 214, line 1. 
As rusWd the Mind up to the thoughtful brain, 
As pierced the Spirit to the conscious heart. 

I now come to the promised attempt, of proving that the brain is 
the seat of the mind, instead of leaving it to mere conjecture, as it has 
hitherto been ; and shall at the same time endeavour to show, not only 
the possibility, but very great probability, that the heart performs a 
similar office for the soul. 

In the above lines it is imagined, that immediately upon God 
breathing into man the breath of life, an immortal principle from all 
Three, viz. Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, mind, word or voice, and 
soul, entered the body, formed from the dust of the ground, and thus 
rendered man like his Creator in his immaterial powers, and differ- 
ing only in his possession of materialism ; the necessity of which, I 
have endeavoured to explain in a former note : and thus the mind 
took possession of the brain, the soul of the heart, and the voice or 
ivord began to dwell in the organs of speech, in order to enable 
humanity to prove and give effect to the other two powers proceed- 
ing from the Creator. 

I will begin first with the mind. 

It will be remembered, in a previous note I have ^mentioned the 
fact, that in study the brain is always affected in a greater or less 
degree, according to the intensity of thought exercised : this would 
appear at once to infer the presence of the mind in that quarter. But 
a stronger argument exists, which is, that the nerves which extend 
to all parts of the body, are but a continuation of the brain, which 
emerging through a bony canal at the back of the cranium, spread 
themselves throughout the whole animal frame ; by which means 
the mind, there dwelling, by its action upon the different lobes of 



NOTES TO CANTO VII. 229 

the brain, is able to convey instantaneous intelligence of its wishes 
to the remotest extremity of the body. There can be no doubt that 
the mind directs all our actions, such as, for instance, to walk or 
run, or to take anything up in the hand : the obedient body yield- 
ing immediately to the impulse of mental power. 

Again — a man gets intoxicated, and what is the effect? why, his 
brain first becomes confused ; by degrees, his speech fails him, then 
his powers of action, till at length he drops on the ground without 
sense or motion — and wherefore ? because his brain is become in- 
capable of receiving the impression of his mind, and therefore can 
no longer direct the movements of his body ; but apply any means 
to remove the fumes of liquor, and restore his powers of thought ; 
although he is still burdened Avith repletion, yet he recovers his 
self-possession, and with it his full command over every limb again. 
The same may be observed of every other animal, even to the fly 
who ventures to taste too freely of exciting beverage ; and therefore, 
I think, it is pretty clear the brain is the seat of the mind. 
I now come to the soul. 

I have already observed in a former note, that in temptation, afflic- 
tion, &c. the heart is sensibly affected, and which seems to argue the 
presence of the soul; but the following text is much more to the 
purpose : — 
" But flesh with the life thereof, which is the blood thereof, shall ye not eat."— Gen. ix. 4. 
Thus it appears that blood contains life ; how then is it that any 
animal can die without first exhausting that fluid ? My answer is, that 
the blood is only the medium of conveyance to the vital principle, 
and not the principle itself; from which I infer, that the heart is the 
seat of the soul in man, and by its pulsation, keeps up a constant circu- 
lation through the instrumentality of the blood, of this immaterial and 
immortal essence, even to the utmost extremities of the body ; which 
circulation immediately stops on the departure of the soul, and conse- 
quent quietude of the heart. 

It may be said, why should not some other animals have souls, if the 
above is correct ? I reply, they have life as well as man, and which life 
is centred in their hearts ; but it is only a temporal principle, and not 



230 NOTES TO CANTO VU. 

immortal. In Genesis, the words are in reference to animals, when 
fully translated, " the soul of life ;" but in speaking of man, " living 
soul" making an essential difference ; for in the first, it infers only 
the indirect principle of vitality ; in the last, vitality itself : and thus 
the brute creation, &c. not having had the breath of life breathed into 
them, but only being called into existence, differed widely from man, 
who received the vital essence from God direct, and therefore is of 
immortal soul ; and thus, while I think, in one case, there can be 
but little doubt of the heart being the seat of animal life ; in the 
other, I contend it is the dwelling of the immortal soul. 

To give from Revelation all the texts which bear upon the fore- 
going points, would be too much for this work ; and therefore I keep 
them with many others against the day of need, when perchance I 
may be required to prove more fully the ideas here promulgated. 



Page 214, line 10. 

and rising in the midst 
Tlie first of Artocar pine genus spread 
Its sinuous broad leaves, and 'mongst the boughs 
The staff of life as bread-like fruit hung down ; 
While round its tow 1 ring stem embraced the Vine, 
Whose clusters had the power to supply 
Knowledge of good and evil, striking down 
Its central root to Hell, the rest around 
Threading a purer loom. 

I now arrive at a subject, in my humble opinion, of peculiar interest, 
and upon which I have never yet seen even a satisfactory idea, viz. 
the nature of the Tree of Life, and the Tree of Knowledge of good and 
evil. On the first, I shall not have so much to say as upon the last; 
but on both, I trust what I do advance will be to the purpose. 

There are two sorts of the Artocarpus, or Bread-fruit-tree, the most 
valuable of which is that of Otaheite. The tree is of the proportion 
of a moderate sized oak ; with this exception, that the leaves are often 



NOTES TO CANTO VII. 231 

a foot and a half long, of an oblong 1 shape ; their colour, consistency, 
and sinuosity being akin to those of the fig-tree, and which exude a 
milky juice upon being bruised or broken. The fruit is about 
the size and shape of a small cocoa-nut, covered with a thick skin, 
somewhat resembling network. The eatable part is contained within, 
having a core in the centre ; it tastes like very sweet new bread. 

I am aware that rather a powerful argument might be brought 
against the supposition of the above beautiful plant having been the 
Tree of Life, from the circumstance of Adam and Eve being driven 
out of the garden of Eden, lest they should stretch forth their hands, 
and take of the tree of life and live for ever, and therefore that, most 
probably, the tree would no longer be in existence, lest men should eat 
of it now for the same purpose. 

This would be unanswerable, if the earth had undergone no change 
in its structure since the fall of our grand parents : but it must be 
remembered that, in the first place, the ground was cursed by God, 
immediately upon their disobeying, as also, there having been the 
deluge since that period ; the soil is not capable at this period 
of bearing an immaculate plant of any kind ; and therefore we 
might as well argue that the apple, plum, &c. were non-existent 
before the fall, from the circumstance of all of them containing more 
or less the strongest of all poisons, viz. prussic acid, and which, it is 
fair to infer, they did not possess before man's transgression ; as it 
would be monstrous to suppose any but the forbidden fruit contained 
the germ of death, although all afterwards became the secret 
enemies of man, and even while feeding him, conveying into his 
blood a destroying essence, to prove that the ground from which 
they drew nourishment, was cursed indeed on his account. 

This point being disposed of, I shall now proceed to give my 
reasons for choosing one of this species, as the most likely to have 
been the Tree of Vitality in Eden. 

First, because if any plant, now in existence, can be supposed to 
be of the same nature as that, none seems more likely than the 
Artocarpus : on account of its very imposing appearance, ex- 
tensive shade, and superior beauty; next, from the circum- 



232 NOTES TO CANTO VII. 

stance of its affording- a substance so like bread, " the staff 'of 'life ;" 
and lastly, from the sweetness of its taste, as also the leaves produc- 
ing milk ; Paradise, by possessing - such a tree, being truly " a land 
flowing with milk and honey.'''' 

Now comes " the Tree of Knowledge of good and evil" and which, 
I shall have little difficulty in proving-, must have been the vine, if any 
tree in existence is descended from the forbidden one ; for be it 
remembered that such is a most important point in the argument, and 
which, although I shall endeavour to prove is most likely the case, 
I dare not affirm as a fact. 

I am perfectly astonished that poets, painters, commentators, (and 
indeed almost every body that has ever considered the subject,) should 
have imagined the apple to have been the forbidden fruit : what is there 
in the apple to make it thus celebrated ? Some would answer, it is 
so tempting in appearance — so is the grape ; it is a very delicious 
fruit — so is the grape ; it is generally liked — so is the grape ; every 
thing that can be mentioned in its favour may be said of the grape, 
and considerably more ; and therefore persons might as well have 
supposed the cherry, plum, peach, &c. to have been the forbidden 
tree, as the apple. 

But of the vine can be advanced so much to the purpose, that I 
fear no argument that may be brought against it ; knowing as I do, 
that I could fill a volume of authorities upon this subject alone. 

In the first place (like the Artocarpus), there are no ramifications 
of its species, although there are different sorts ; not so with the apple ; 
for the pear, quince, medlar, &c. &c. are of the same genus : also the 
plum, cherry, apricot, &c. are of one genus ; and so on with all other 
fruit trees : this fact alone would be a strong presumption in favour of 
the vine. But is there any fruit at the present day, that may be said 
to afford knowledge of good and evil ? Yes, the grape has this 
power, but no other I believe. 

This fruit, while unplucked, hangs on its parent stem, harmless and 
beautiful. Man gathers ! It is thrown into the wine press, and comes 
out in the shape of a most delicious beverage : taken in moderation, 
it is beneficial in sickness, rejoices the heart of the weary, is the milk 



NOTES TO CANTO VII. 233 

of old age; sometimes snatches the delicate infant from the jaws of 
death ; heals the wounded ; draws tog-ether persons in the close bond 
of fellowship ; and frequently, over a cup of generous wine, a long 
enmity is annihilated, and a firm friendship cemented : thus it gives 
knowledge of good. But pass the bounds of prudence; let man become 
too craving after its powers of instruction, and behold the sad reverse ; 
the philosopher becomes the fool; the lover, the libertine; the old 
man, the heedless boy, without possessing a constitution to withstand 
the effects of his excesses : like a cankerworm, it devours the vitals 
of youth, and brings on premature old age : friends part in anger ; 
rage, despair, murder, suicide, blasphemy, every species of crime is 
the consequence ; and man, godlike-man, becomes lower than the 
most loathsome brute : thus it gives hnoivledge of evil. 

But an argument might here be induced, that rum, which is 
made from the sugar cane,— gin distilled from grain, — brandy which 
also may be distilled from grain (although the best is made from 
grapes), as also all malt and fermented liquors, have the same effect 
in a greater or less degree, either to produce good or harm, when 
used properly or improperly, and therefore, that the sugar cane, 
wheat, &c. are equally possible to have been the forbidden fruit ; 
to which I answer, that they are not trees, but herbs, and there- 
fore cannot be meant ; besides, spirituous liquors and beer are of 
later discovery than wine; and would, most likely, never have 
been thought of, had not that been first invented ; as likewise it 
more than ever proves, that since the fall of man, and consequent 
cursing of the ground, every thing is calculated to produce either good 
or evil, nourishment or poison, according to the moderation or pro- 
fusion with which human nature uses them ; or the knowledge gained 
by eating of the forbidden tree. And here let me remark, what a 
singular agreement there is between Adam's sin and that of other 
pious men in the Bible, if the vine was the Tree of Knowledge ! The 
first crime committed after the deluge was Noah's drunkenness ; 
after the destruction of Sodom, Lot' s intoxication ; and even Peter, 
when he cursed and swore and denied his beloved Master, might po&r 
sibly have been affected with the wine, at the " Last Supper" 



234 NOTES TO CANTO VII. 

But it may here be said, that if the vine is so evil a tree, how is it 
that our blessed Saviour compares himself to it, and directs its 
juice to be drank in remembrance of him? To this I reply, that it 
is only evil when used wrongfully ; and that the words of our Saviour 
are, " I am the true vine," thus implying that there was a false one ; 
and with regard to the institution of the Lord's Supper, I draw the 
following parallels : — 

In the material Paradise, of the first Adam, was a Tree of Life, 
by the constant eating of which man continued immortal. In the 
spiritual Paradise, of the second Adam, Christ himself is the pillar of 
vitality; the emblem, here below, being bread or the staff of life, by 
eating of which, through faith, man recovers immortality. In Eden's 
garden was a tree of knowledge of good and evil, through the tasting 
of which by man, sin brought death to human nature. In the heavenly 
garden is a tree of knowledge of good and evil ; the emblem being 
wine, by the drinking of which, through faith, we are enabled to 
discard evil and lay hold on everlasting good : the effects being thus 
reversed, and instead of sin bringing temporal death, eternal death is 
passed upon sin. 

Again, by Adam's eating of the forbidden vine, it became 
necessary for the blood of a Saviour to be spilt, and we are com- 
manded to drink of its juice as a remembrance that our disobedience 
rendered such necessary; whilst, by the loss of the tree of life, 
we caused his body to be nailed to the cross ; and thus he became 
our only source and hope of vitality hereafter, in remembrance of 
which we are ordered to eat bread, as emblematical of that body. 

I now give the following texts from scripture concerning the vine, 
and which prove, in my opinion, almost beyond a doubt, that if the 
hind of the tree of knowledge still exists, the vine is that kind. 

" Neither gather the grapes of thy vine undressed." — Lev. xxv. 5. 

" And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, Speak unto the children of Israel, and say un- 
to them, when either man or woman shall separate themselves to vow a vow of a Nazarite, 
to separate themselves unto the Lord : 

" He shall separate himself from wine and strong drink, and shall drink no vinegar of 
wine, or vinegar of strong drink, neither shall he drink any liquor of grapes, nor eat moist 
grapes or dried. 



NOTES TO CANTO VII. 235 

" All the days of his separation shall he eat nothing that is made of the vine tree, from 
the kernels even to the husk."— Num. vi. 1 to 4. 

" For their vine is of the vine of Sodom, and of the fields of Gomorrah : their grapes 
are grapes of gall, their clusters are bitter ; 

" Their wine is the poison of dragons, and the cruel venom of asps." — Deut. xxxii. 32, 33. 

" Wine is a mocker, strong drink is raging : and whosoever is deceived thereby is not 
wise." — Prov. xx. i. 

" Who hath woe ? who hath sorrow ? who hath contentions ? who hath babbling ? who 
hath wounds without cause ? who hath redness of eyes ? 

" They that tarry long at the wine ; they that go to seek mixed wine. 

" Look not thou upon the wine when it is red, when it giveth his colour in the cup, 
when it moveth itself aright. 

" At the last it biteth like a serpent, and stingeth like an adder." — Prov. xxiii. 29—32. 

" Woe unto them that rise up early in the morning, that they may follow strong drink ; 
that continue until night, till wine inflame them ! 

" And the harp, and the viol, the tabrel, and pipe, and wine, are in their feasts : but they 
regard not the work of the Lord, neither consider the operation of his hands. 

" Woe unto them that are wise in their own eyes, and prudent in their own sight ! 

" Woe unto them that are mighty to drink wine, and men of strength to mingle strong 
drink."— Isa. v. 11, 12, 21, 22. 

" I had planted thee a noble vine, wholly a right seed : how then art thou turned into 
the degenerate plant of a strange vine unto me ?" — Jer. ii. 21. 

" And in all vineyards shall be wailing." — Amos v. 17. 

" And the angel thrust in his sickle into the earth, and gathered the vine of the earth, and 
cast it into the great wine-press of the wrath of God. 

" And the wine-press was trodden without the city, and blood came out of the wine-press, 
even unto the horse bridles, by the space of a thousand and six hundred furlongs." — Rev . 
xiv. 19, 20. 

Besides the above, there are numerous other texts in the Bible of 
similar bearing ; as also several that prove, that when used with pru- 
dence, wine is beneficial ; and thus is the Vine truly, " the Tree of 
Knowledge of good and evil" 

It will be observed, that I have represented the Artocarpus, or Tree 
of Life, as standing- in the centre of the garden ; and the Vine, or 
Tree of Knowledge of good and evil, as twining around its stem. 
This I have done, not only on account of the latter naturally requir- 
ing support, but also from the circumstance of Revelation informing 
us that they were both placed in the midst of the garden ; and 
although midst does not necessarily mean middle, yet as Infidels have 
made a handle of it (poor though it be), to shake belief in the Bible, 
I have thus placed them together, as it seems probable that, if I am 



236 NOTES TO CANTO VII. 

right in my conjecture of their kind, they would grow after such 
fashion ; as also, that unless seduced into eating the forbidden fruit, 
no temptation to man was actually afforded by the tree itself; as 
thus it would have been so covered, by the wide-spreading and over- 
hanging foliage of the Tree of Life, that the fruit of vitality would 
offer itself first and most conspicuously to the notice of any one ap- 
proaching ; the grape of knowledge requiring research, being hidden 
beneath the enveiling shade of the superior plant. 

In conclusion of this note, I think it necessary to explain the 
meaning of the words " striking down its central root to hell" as 
they convey more than might be discovered by most readers. 

In its natural state (that is, when propagated from seed and not 
from cuttings), the Vine strikes down its principal or centre root per- 
pendicularly ; while it throws out its secondary fibres horizontally : 
I have therefore benefited by this fact, in supposing that the Tree of 
Knowledge thus sought its chief and evil nourishment from the inter- 
nal part of the earth, which still remained polluted, as containing 
Hell, while the upper part having been purified by God, afforded the 
good sap, both to it and all other trees, plants, &c. 

I have already endeavoured to show not only the possibility, 
but the very great probability, from scripture, that Hell is contained 
in the centre of this earth ; and thus the Devil being an immaterial 
essence by the means of this connection formed by the principal root 
of the Tree of Knowledge, between the outer surface of the world 
and its centre, may be supposed to have found his way upon earth, 
previous to his tempting man ; where having arrived, he chose the 
Serpent or dragon for his material agent, not only on account of that 
reptile's natural subtlety, but also because no other beast of the field 
capable of winning attention, or climbing the forbidden stem, is clad 
in mail, and which, I have imagined, he was obliged for ever to bear 
about with him as a curse, by giving him no respite from the tor- 
ments of eternal fire. Thus, in every respect, the scaly Serpent was 
his only chance of success ; while the Vine circling round the Tree 
of Life, portended from the first the pliable shape and manner of 
proceeding of the wily Tempter. 



NOTES TO CANTO VIT, 237 

Page 219, line 19. 

Meanwhile the slumbering Man a vision saiv 
Enchanting to his senses. 

I now arrive at the promised endeavour of proving- by dreams or 
visions, not only the immortality, but immateriality of the soul ; and 
shall by the same means argue for the immaterialism of the mind, 
which does not possess immortality, excepting when it. is in con- 
junction with the soul. 

The following relation of St. Paul I think will apply most com- 
pletely : — 

" It is not expedient for me doubtless to glory. I will come to visions and revelations 
of the Lord. 

" I knew a man in Christ about fourteen years ago (whether in the body, I cannot tell ; 
or whether out of the body I cannot tell : God knoweth) ; such an one caught up to the 
third heaven. 

" And I knew such a man (whether in the body, or out of the body, I cannot tell : God 
knoweth) ; 

" How that he was caught up into Paradise, and heard unspeakable words, which it is 
not lawful for a man to utter."— Cob. xii. 1 — 4. 

Here it is evident that St. Paul looked upon visions, not only as a 
mode of divine communication, but he also indicates a doubt whether 
the visionist is always in the body or not ; far be it from me 
to be presumptuous enough to attempt explanation of that which this 
servant of Christ was unable to interpret ; but it is a curious fact that 
in trances, which are not of unknown occurrence even at this day (and 
I think it is possible Paul was entranced when he had the vision 
here related), that persons have always seen something of an extra- 
ordinary nature, and which, like Paul, they generally keep a profound 
secret ! But, what is still more remarkable, they appear to all intents 
and purposes defunct, their not decomposing being the only means of 
inducing belief to the contrary. How many have been actually buried, 
and yet by some happy accident rescued, ere it was too late, from 
their appalling situation ! From all which it is reasonable to infer, 
that very probably the soul for a time actually leaves the body, the 
mind accompanying, and therefore both must be immaterial ; or else 
how could they thus depart and return without any visible mode of 



238 NOTES TO CANTO VII. 

conveyance; as also the soul must be immortal, or else the body; 
once being- deprived of life, there could be no renewal without God 
breathing again into the nostrils of the person tranced ; while the 
mind is not immortal, but as in conjunction with the soul, for I never 
yet heard of any animal, save man, being in a trance. 

The several instances of Christ and his apostles raising the dead, 
prove that the departure and return of the soul has occurred, and 
trances may thus be only a species of miracle, still performed by God 
for wise purposes. Sleeping dreams and visions are of a lower grade, 
yet they partake of the same property, the difference being-, I imagine, 
that in trances, the soul actually leaves the body, and ascends or de- 
scends to mix with immaterial spirits like itself; while in dreams 
and visions, they on the contrary ascend or descend to join it in 
the body. God is a spirit ; he requires us to worship him in spirit ; 
he has appeared to many in the spirit by visions ; all proving- the soul 
of man to partake of the same quality. 

I have represented in the lines which head this note, that Adam 
was enabled through spiritual medium to see his wife in a dream, 
previous to her presenting herself to his material vision ; and which 
the reader is intended to suppose was caused by God in order to 
convince him from the first, that he possessed more than a mere 
body, as he had seen the woman and heard her speak, although 
his bodily powers appropriated to that purpose had been long pros- 
trated in sleep : thus proving that his perceptive qualities were still 
in action through the medium of his immortal soul, in conjunction 
with his immaterial mind, as he had not discerned that which might 
not be, but an actual occurrence ; an idea for which I make no apo- 
logy, such warnings being very frequent even in these times. 

The expression in common use, viz. " the mind's eye" has in my 
opinion more in it than most give it credit for ; and thus from dreams 
alone, I think the soul may be considered both immortal and imma- 
terial ; the mind immaterial. 



CANTO VIII. 



" Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them. 

" And on the seventh day God ended his work which he had made ; and he rested on the 
seventh day from all his work which he had made. 

" And God blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it : because that in it he had rested 
from all his work which God created and made. 

" These are the generations of the heavens and of the earth when they were created, in 
the day that the Lord God made the earth and the heavens." — Gkn. ii. 1 to 4. 



ARGUMENT. 



Opening proclamation of the Seraphim that God is returning from 
his work. — The angels are attracted from all sides, as the Spirit 
enters between the Cherubim. — God gives them permission to view 
the new creation. — They, with harp and voice, praise him. — Thev 
depart to the walls of heaven, but finding no longer a void be- 
yond, but an immense ocean, they return to the centre, and pass- 
ing out of twelve gates, descend through space. — Treading the 
milky way, they reach the planets ; Michael and the other archangels 
alighting on the sun. — They all direct their attention to the earth, 
just as light rises on Eden. — Our First Mother's morning call to 
Adam. — He springing up, leads her down the bank into the stream. 
— After which, the man praises God. — Immediately they hear a 
chorus in the firmament. — The man, unable to account for its source 
in any other way, imagines it proceeds from the morning stars. — In 
fond union, they betake their way to the tree of life, sitting beneath 
which they make their morning meal of its fruit. — Adam's caution to 
his wife not to touch the tree of knowledge. — The animals (now most 
opposed to each other), are represented on terms of the greatest 
friendship. — Brief description of the remainder of the Seventh Day, 
how employed. — Morning and evening complete the First Sabbath on 
earth. — In Highest Heaven, the angels having returned, Michael 
announces their admiration at creation, — Jehovah prophesies of sal- 
vation as a greater work. — Grand blast of trumpets and shouts of the 
angels. — Thus all is finished. — Concluding address to the Deity. 



CANTO EIGHTH 



©f)£ df t?0t £at)tl3tf)< 



" Shout, all ye hierarchies, — immortal hosts, 
Sing Hallelujahs to th 1 eternal God ; 
Who was, and is, and still has yet to be, 
And ever shall, e'en world without an end. 
He comes, ye Spirits, — yea, th' Invincible 
Of Heav'n returns from his great victory, 
And on his brow the diadem of peace, 
And in his right hand joys for evermore : 
Hail him ! — All hail him ! — Let no single voice 
Weary with praising, for there's none like him ! 
Honour and might, and love and pious fear, 
Yield him, ye Principalities and Pow'rs; 
Strike all your harps, let ev'ry string resound 
With vibratory rapture ! — Shout, — for lo ! 
The God of everlasting life is here !" — 
it 2 



!42 THE FTRST SABBATH. [Canto VITI, 

Thus loud proclaircTd the flaming Seraphim : — 
Like rattling thunder thro 9 trT Empyrean, 
Legions of troops angelic, on their wings 
Of huge extent, alighted round the throne 
Of great Jehovah, as his Spirit rush'd, 
Like roaring wind, between the Cherubim 
Who to their centre shook, convulsively, 
As th' Almighty enter'd : — amongst the crowd, 
Did no angelic feature dare itself 
To manifest, but ev'ry face was veiPd 
Before the awful presence of its God ; — 
When all anon was hushYl ; no o'erfraught breath 
Found utterance, the stillness to dispel, 
When toned mellifluous, in gentle voice, 
The Word affectionate, the silence broke. 

" 'Tis finislVd, yea, my faithful ones, rejoice, 
A second holy victory is gain'd : — 
Satan receives a rightful recompense, 
And ye, thro' me, reward of triumphing !— 
Go now my Angels, and your longing eyes 
Gladden with sights unknown, behold the World 
And promised Universe, and see and know 
I Am — And ever shall be— That — I Am ! " 



Canto VIII.] SEVENTH DAY, 243 

Up flew their veiling pennons with a clap, 
And ev'ry radiant head with spires was crown'd 
Of lambent flame, which gloriously play'd 
In filletings of favour, round their brows ; — 
When rose their brilliant arms, and from their lyres 
Struck one grand chord, then sweetly ran them o'er 
In heavenly symphony, when Michael sole 
Commenced enrapturous his song of praise. 

" Hail, Mighty Monarch of Immensity ! 
Who can compete with Thee, eternal God ! 
Where is thy like, whom no extent can bound, 
Nor height, length, breadth, nor depth a limit set ! 
Yet lov'st thy creatures with unwearied love, 
Joy of our souls, our light, our life, our all ; 
Oh may thy grace, restraining, ever keep 
Our hearts unshaken in fidelity :— 
Now shout Hosannas ! — yea, letevYy tongue 
Join in a choral psalmody to God."" 

" Sing Hallelujah V — the right Phalanx cried ; 
The left them answer'd, " Hallelujah sing V — 
" Is not our God a very present help ?" — 
66 Yea, he's our strength, and ever to be found !" — 



244 THE FIRST SABBATH. [Canto VIII. 

" Where is another like unto the Lord?" — 

" Not in the cycle of Infinitude !" — 

" Who out of evil hath such good produced ?" — 

(i The One Omnipotent, the Great I Am !"— 

" Who then will praise him with a perfect praise ?" — 

" All,' , — " All,"— « Eternally,"—" Amen,",—" Amen/ 

Thus sang the Heav'nly Choirs, and dispersed, 
Marshall'd in companies, betook their flight 
To the encircling walls ; from whence, amazed, 
They saw a void no longer ; far and wide 
Stretch'd a transparent ocean, and beyond 
The great horizon of Infinity : — 
Back to the centre hastening, they came 
To a stupendous Dome, in which twelve gates 
Open'd their portals wide ; — thro' these they rush'd, 
And buoying on the firmamental air, 
From star to star descended ; till at length, 
Treading the milky way, they had arrived 
Upon the planetary spheres ; the Sun, 
Michael alone receiving, and a troop 
Of archangelic chieftains ; — on the Earth 
They all their gazings bent just as the rays 
Of solar light on Eden's garden rose. 



Canto VIII.] SEVENTH DAY. 245 

The Man still slept ;— his spouse, who had o'ernight 
Sought prior rest, prime waking, him bespake. 
" Adam arise, 'tis morn, the ruddy Sun 
Calls thee abroad, as he ascending vies 
In rosiness with thee ; — I long to rove 
The flowYy mead and tuneful grove explore ; 
Or thro' the dell by yonder waterfall 
Descend into the glade ; where run the Deer, 
In joyous frolic, round the lofty tree 
Placed in the midst : — awake my Love ; — arise." 

Thus whisper'd soft the first devoted wife 
To her young husband ; who salient sprang 
Firm on his feet, extending her his hand 
In fond exultance ; — she, outvied in haste, 
Rose smiling from her couch ; when with a kiss 
He balmM her cheek, then fondly led her down 
The blooming bank into the crystal stream, 
There with ablution to refresh their limbs. 
She, like a lovely water-lily, stood 
Modest as fair ; — he, seen^d a habitant 
Of the deep rivulet, sporting about ; — 
When each, ascending from their morning lave,. 
Knelt on the verdant sward, in pious praise 



246 THE FIRST SABBATH. [Canto VII L 

Uniting both ; — when thus the Man commenced 
In gloriation of their Parent's works. 

" O Lord our God and Father ! who from high 
Surveys these nether wonders of thine hand, 
Look down on us thy children with a smile 
Of love parental ; for there's none above 
Or here below that we desire, save Thee. 
How vast thou art ! — the grove resounds thy voice 
Thro* slender throats of warbling choristers ! — 
The orb of day is but a medium 
Thro' which we ken thy glory ; and the stars 
Are yet the shining dew drops in thy path ; — 
The murmVing streamlet softly hints of thee, 
And falling cataract proclaims thy laws ; 
The lofty cedar bows to let thee pass, 
And flowers yield the fragrance of thy breath ! 
The ocean speaks thy infinite extent ; 
The land thy ever firm stability ; 
All Thee declare ! all Nature yields thyself ! 
Centred in all, and all enclosed by Thee : — 
We bless Thee, as the Source of happiness ; 
Adore Thee, as the Lord of mightiness ; 
Praised be thy name for evermore — Auaen." 



Canto VIII.] SEVENTH DAY. 247 

Adam had spake ; — when a supernal song, 
From choirs exalted, burst upon the air : — 
Still kneeling, they in rapture clasp'd their hands, 
Awhile the heaven rang with loud applause. 

66 Rejoice ! rejoice ! ye brilliant hosts rejoice ! 
Shout all ye ministers of wise decrees : — 
Hail ! happy Man and Woman of the earth, 
Pride of below and joy of all above ; 
Beloved of God, admired of all his works, 
Sure pledge of glory and Jehovah's pow'r ! — 
Welcome ye spheres, ye steps of swift descent 
From highest regions to these lower realms ; 
And Hallelujah to the One Triune, 
The All-Omnipotent, The Great I Am." 

Thus sang the jubilative hierarchies, 
When our Forefather, with a countenance 
Irradiate with bliss, unto his spouse 
Ventured solution of their wonderment. 

" Hark ! how the Morning Stars together sing- 
In laud of our Creator ! — Great is He, 
Whose wonders even yonder fires find speech 



248 



THE FIRST SABBATH. [Canto VIII 



To celebrate, tho' mindless else and dumb : — 
But lo, they retire, as the light of day 
Becomes more vivid ;— behold I — they are gone' 

From pure devotion, (in which neither fear 
Nor interest held sway, but gratitude 
Alone the worship prompted,) they uprose 
Serenely joyous : — round the slender waist 
Of her he loved, Adam his nervous arm 
Had circled ; while the Woman, tenderly, 
So urgent clung unto his heaving breast, 
As if she fain would penetrate, to dwell 
For evermore in that dear side, from which 
She was so lately taken ; — on they went 
In unity concordant, for they moved 
As tho' one spirit animated both. 

Along an avenue of myrtle plants, 
With orange and the citron interspersed, 
They glided thus ; until they had arrived 
Within the confines of a spacious lawn : — - 
Here in the midst, upon a rising mound, 
Sublimed the Tree of Life, with grand expanse 
Its foliage spread ; and from its base emerged 



Canto VIII.] SEVENTH DAY. 249 

A vital spring of water ; which thence flow'd 
In winding rills across the flowr'y glade, 
At which the beasts of earth and fowl of air 
Refresh'd their palates, after dainty feed. 

Beneath the covert of this living shade 
They sat them down ; and ready to their hand 
Bent, as spontaneous, a fruit-laden branch, 
From which they pluck'd a stem ; when rose again 
The bough with graceful elasticity. 
Then Adam, — happy servitor ! — commenced 
The banquet to prepare : — and first he burst 
Upon the parent soil, the rind, emboss'd 
With Nature's fretwork ; — from within he took 
The bread of life, and in the vacant shell. 
From the crush'd leaves, squeezed milk and honey juice, 
And mix , d with it a portion of the stream : — 
Then each, with appetite of youth and health, 
Began their morning meal ; when thus the Man 
Address' d the partner of his rich repast : — 

" Dearest ! — how grateful is this food, of which 
To eat God hath desired us ! But observe, 
The tree grows not alone ; but round it twines 



250 THE FIRST SABBATH. [Canto VIII 

Another stem ; — like as that Serpent hugs 
Yon lofty Palm -.—from this the Lord forbids 
Us e'er to pluck, lest tasting we should die : — 
To what the word portends I have no clue ; 
But sure it is no 'vantage, from the stress 
Imperative th' Almighty laid upon 
This his sole caution : — therefore, Love, beware, 
Nor even touch the interdicted fruit.'" 

He said, and she vow'd never to transgress 
Jehovah's mandate ; — but still thought it strange, 
So fair a produce should be thus withheld ; — 
Yet felt convinced there was some weighty cause 
For this restraint, by the All-bounteous One. 

About this happy twain the varied kinds 
Of earth and air collected, peacefully. 
High o'er their heads the Bird of Paradise 
Display 'd its waving plumage ; whilst the Hawk 
Hover'd enraptured as the Linnet sang : — 
Stretch'd at their feet the faithful Dog reclined ; 
And near the Elephant in thoughtful mood : — 
The gentle Sheep, from heat, had shelter sought 
Beneath the flowings of the Lion's mane ; 



Canto VTII.] SEVENTH DAY. 251 

And Wolf, in frolic, bounded o'er the mead. 
In sportive gambols, with the noble Horse ; 
Or Tiger dodged in playfulness the Stag. 

Soon as they finish'd, Adam thanks return'd 
To the Provider of their feast ; — and then 
Together they the garden roam'd, or stood 
Gathering, from stooping sprays, delicious meat ; 
Not statedly to time, but when and where 
Their inclination led : — or on a bank 
Of fragrant green, recumbent, they appear'd, 
Springes fairest flowers, — He, as Crocus bright, 
She, the chaste Snow-drop's bending modesty. 
Anon when passing near the odour beds, 
Some blossom each outvied : the Lily seem'd 
Less fair than her ; — awhile his blooming cheek 
Shamed e'en the Rose. — Thus past the time until 
The Sun, in western clime descending, warn'd 
Of Night's approach ; when to their couch they sped, 
And there (first having humbly bless'd their God 
For all his bounties), sweetly sought repose. 
So Evening and Morning, by their span, 
The Seventh Day completed, and thus form'd 
The First of Sabbaths, on Primeval Earth. 



252 THE FIRST SABBATH. [Canto VIII. 

And now the surface of High Heaven, seem'd 
A moving superfice of flaming crowns ; 
As the wide legionary hosts advanced 
From their explorement to the throne of God : 
When halted all ; — and, as with one accord, 
Majestically slow, arose their wings ; 
Which rounding closed in front of ev'ry form : — 
Then on they came, phenomenon superne. 
Transform^ apparent, from a plain of fire 
To one extensive sheet of feather" d snow : — 
Again they stood, and from the van progressed 
A single pillar of this spotless mass ; — 
'Twas Archangelic Michael, the approved 
Of his Creator in fidelity, 
And loved by all the Spirits of his train 
As the most humble, tho" the bravest Soul. 

" Oh thou Omnipotent ! — O wond'rous God ! 
Where shall we words, befittingly sublime, 
Discover for thy praise ! — when we survey M 
Thy new creation, in which order reigns, 
In space, supreme, so lately the abode 
Of hateful tumult ; and thy light holds rule 
Where grossest darkness govern'd formerly ; 



Canto VT1I.J SEVENTH DAY, 253 

With trembling joy we were compell'd to own 
We little knew Thee, mighty Lord ! till now." 

Thus the High Marshal of Jehovah's troops 
Addressed his Monarch : — when the still small Voice 
Again was heard in oracle profound ; 
Prophetic of the future amplitude 
Of Virtue's triumph, and defeat of Vice : — 

" List, all ye faithful ! — there is yet a time 
To come of greater conquest ; in the which 
The Universe, as being but the work 
Of my Omnipotence, to nothingness 
Will fade before the grandeur of a deed 
Begotten of my love, in which I see, 
E'en now, of th' earnest travail of my Soul 
Well satisfied, portending victory 

Of patient holiness o'er restless sin. 

Tempted by Satan (who for objects wise 

Shall roam anon), Humanity will fall ; 

Seduced by means of the twain-knowledged plant 

Which hugs the Tree of Life, (whose vital stem, 

By daily use gives durability 

To dust ; — thus render'd a companion fit 



254 THE FTRST SABBATH. [Canto VIII 

For soul immortal), faithless Man will taste 
Of double sapience; and thus discern 
Good forfeited and evil found ; — whilst ye, 
Descending, from the garden shall eject 
Him disobedient ; lest, putting forth 
His hand, he gather of the living bough, 
To death an antidote, and so remain 
For ever on the Earth, to thus defeat 
A better gift, e'en Paradise above, 
Knowledge untainted, and a life of bliss ; 
Nor find he dies but to supremely live, 
And by his loss win everlasting gain. 
This is the third and final overthrow 
Of Satan and his tribe, thus to avenge 
Each Power of my Triple Providence." 

Jehovah spake ; — when, swift as light, appear'd 
Again a blazing multitude divine ; — 
Ten thousand trumps, in acclamation blown, 
Rent the Empyrean with a thunder blast, 
And voices shouting, in extatick praise, 
" Glory and honour, power, love, and fear, 
To Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, triune 
Be now, and evermore ! — Amen — Amen. 11 



Canto VIII.] SEVENTH DAY. 

Thus finish'd were the Firmament and Earth, 
And all their host ; — and on this Seventh Day 
The Lord God rested from his mighty work, 
In Highest Heaven, and it sanctified. 
These are the generations of them both, 
When they created were, — but who can mark 
The term of their existence,- — saving Him 
Who calFd them into being, and whose breath 
Will hurl them back to ruin, with the damn , d, 
When the last judgment strikes the final blow. 



And now Great God ! from whom no thoughts are veiPd, 

Whose eye can penetrate the hidden mind, 

And there discover wishes, e'en unknown 

To the blind self approver's vanity : — 

Look down with mercy, if perchance I've dared 

Set foot presumptuous on too hallow'd ground 

For human tread : — full well I have perceived, 

In this my anxious flight, how vast thou art, 

How small myself, how little for my pride; — 

Yet one immunity I trust is mine, 

To which e'en angels cannot lay a claim, 

A privilege more high than Cherubs boast, 



256 THE FIRST SABBATH. [Canto VIII. 

More honourable than Seraphic crown, 

Which neither Principalities nor Pow'rs, 

Things past or present or those yet to come, 

Nor even height nor length, nor breadth nor depth, 

Nor any other Creature, hath the might 

To rob me of; — that my immortal soul 

Is not unworthy of a Saviours blood: — 

This is my all ! — To prove Thee just and good 

Has been my humble effort ; — if in aught 

I have transgress'd, Oh let me plead beneath 

The Cross of Christ, a pardon for the deed ; — 

And with my brethren in the like attempts, 

Find ransom in Emanuel's dying words, 

" Father, — forgive, — they know not what they do." 



END OF CANTO VIII. 



NOTES. 



CANTO VIII. 

Page 242, line 20. 

" Go now my Angels, and your longing eyes 
Gladden with sights unknown;" 

No idea seems likely to be more erroneous than that of supposing 
God was accompanied by all his angels when he went forth to create 
the world, &c. ; there is nothing to warrant the supposition in the 
1st chapter of Genesis, for there it appears almost to demonstration, 
that the Deity was unattended ; indeed, a most sublime quietude 
reigns throughout the opening verses to the creative work ; nor does 
it appear probable, that Jehovah would allow any of his creatures to 
witness the wonderful process of his Omnipotence ; since (as far as 
we can surmise) it would greatly destroy their wonder and admira- 
tion at his power ; as also from various parts of scripture, it appears 
that the Almighty has ever chosen to all his creatures to be enveloped 
by mystery; knowing as he does, that knowledge cannot be trusted 
with any being but himself, as it generally leads to pride, — pride to 
ingratitude, — and ingratitude to rebellion. 

I am aware, the idea has been formed on that verse in the book 
of Job, where, after God calling upon that afflicted man to answer 
several questions, such as, " ivhere wast thou when I laid the founda- 
tions of the earth ;" he says — 

«• When the morning stars sang together, and all the sons of God shouted for joy ?"— 
Job xxxviii. 7. 

s 2 



258 NOTES TO CANTO VIII. 

It will be seen, that I have thrown out an idea illustrative of the 
foregoing- text, in one of Adam's speeches to his wife ; but I cannot 
agree with the general opinion, that it meant the angels were present 
at the creation. It may be said, how then can the above be explained ? 
I submit in the following manner — 

First, it appears these are put as interrogatories to Job, and there- 
fore, it does not follow they are to be taken as assertions of the pe- 
culiar mode of creation. 

Secondly, that they are not placed in the same order as their paral- 
lels in the two first chapters of Genesis, and which are the declared 
relation of the creative work. 

And thirdly, that the text may be understood in this way : 

" Answer thou me, vjhere wast thou when I laid the foundations ?" 
Sfc. fyc. Answer thou me, where ivast thou when the morning stars 
sang together, and all the sons of God shouted for joyf The words 
" Answer thou me, were wast thou" being understood (as is very 
common), to apply to each separate interrogatory ; at any rate, there 
is more argument against, than in favour of the idea of the angels 
accompanying God to creation, and therefore I have chosen the 
strongest side. 



Page 246, line 19. 

" All Tliee declare ! all Nature yields thyself J 
Centred in all, and all enclosed by Thee :" — 

In a preceding note, the reader will remember I have asserted 
my belief, not only in the existence of immaterialism, but that it is 
the origin and supporting cause of all materiality. To exemplify 
this position I now proceed, and shall begin, as ever is my plan, with 
first principles, advancing to second and third, &c. in rotation. 

God is an eternal spirit, that is, a self -existent, immaterial essence. 
Matter must have had an origin, or else Jehovah could not have been 
said to be the Creator of that which was co-eternal with himself. 
The objector might here say, " Granted ; but how, then, is it that 



NOTES TO CANTO VIII. 259 

you have made Satan and his legions the origin of Chaos ? you ought 
rather to have represented God as first forming Chaos, and then 
afterwards modelling the Universe from it." My answer is, but the 
Almighty created Satan and his tribe, when known by the name of 
Lucifer, and angels in heaven ; and thus Chaos is made to owe its 
origin to God, as being produced by the act of his creatures, an act 
suffered by Jehovah for the best and wisest purposes. 

God being the origin of every thing, it is thus proved at once, 
that materialism has originated with immaterialism ; and I now 
advance to secondary principles, to show that the former is entirely 
regulated and supported by the latter. 

What is attraction, repercussion, gravitation, &c. but immaterial 
powers acting upon materialism ? Place a needle exactly between 
two pieces of steel, of equal size, the one magnetic, the other not ; 
it approaches that, and retires from this, without any tangible or visi- 
ble cause ; both ought apparently, in every way, to have the same 
control over the said needle : but there is an immaterial principle of 
attraction in one, which the other does not possess : — how can the 
Materialist explain this fact ? according to his arguments, there ought 
to be a thread fastened from one to the other. The effect of the pole 
upon the compass is still more extraordinary, the distance being so 
much greater ; and when we contemplate the power of the sun over 
the planets, moon, and earth, and the regulating laws that keep all 
the heavenly bodies in their relative situations, the Materialist is 
proved either an idiot, or wilful misleader of others, when he asserts 
there is no such thing as immaterialism. As I have before said, this 
essence does not mean non-entity, as it then would be truly non- 
existent. To prove its peculiar nature, or the means of its acting, is 
too vast a subject for this work ; I reserve that point, amongst many 
others, for a separate and more deeply philosophical treatise than the 
present ; one that I hope to address to the Literati, more especially ; 
and therefore, I shall now proceed to show some familiar instances 
of the action of immaterialism upon material bodies. 

There are four elements in nature ; viz. light, air, water, and earth ; 
the first I have called differently from the general term, viz. fire, 



260 NOTES TO CANTO VIII. 

which I consider erroneous, as fire is the concentration of light, not 
light the emanation from fire. 

These elements all contain immaterialism in a greater or smaller 
degree, and in proportion to their several quantums of this essence* 
they are more or less fluid, and resist or assume soliditv accordingly. 
We will begin with light .* this, as I have before said, partakes so 
largely of immaterialism and so little of materiality, that it is almost 
entirely compounded of the former ; to prove this I will, in the 
present work, give a few arguments, reserving the main ones for 
another occasion. 

In the first place, you cannot confine light ; for when concentrated, 
in the form of material fire, it is always escaping, requiring constant 
supply from its immaterial and invisible portion, heat. — Again, it 
never turns putrid, which is a peculiar attribute of immaterialism, 
but on the contrary has the effect to destroy corruption, — witness the 
powers of electricity ; it is evidently a source of life in innumerable 
things, and by means of galvanic introduction, may be actually made 
to give apparent, indeed it may be said, temporary animation to dead 
bodies ; if brought in contact with pestilental air, it evaporates im- 
mediately, finding no kindred there ; you cannot weigh it or ascertain 
its texture ; yet does it contain materiality in some degree ; I say 
some, since a vast body of light is concentrated in a very small flame 
of fire ; and although you may exclude its material part, fire ; you 
cannot its immaterial portion, heat. 

The next in rotation is air, and which is not so fluid as light, being 
more material in its composition. Atmospheric air is charged with 
a considerable quantity of water ; or perhaps it may be said that the 
concentration of the material part of air produces water, and in pro- 
portion as it is rarified, i. e. becomes more immaterial, it loses its 
material quality. It also becomes putrid in time, and which attribute 
belongs to materiality. It is capable of being confined, weighed, 
and experimentalised upon in various ways, similar to solid bodies ; 
and may be excluded, although I do not believe an actual vacuum, 
that is in the strict sense of the word, was ever obtained, which 
proceeds from the impossibility of expelling its immaterial part. 



NOTES TO CANTO VIII. 261 

Water is the next in turn, and which is still less fluid than air, 
approaching- nearer to solidity; and actually assumes that quality 
upon the departure of immaterialism (for let the reader remember, 
that I have endeavoured expressly to prove, that the most pure im- 
materiality, is heat); it then assumes a substantial form, and is called 
ice. Every body is aware also that water may be weighed, measured, 
&c. almost as easily as earth ; will quickly turn putrid, and may without 
difficulty be confined or excluded at pleasure, which proceeds, I 
imagine, from its being- so nearly all material. 

The last element is Earth, which may be considered almost 
entirely material ; and what is very extraordinary, heat has the effect 
to give even that a sort of fluidity ; by drying- it in such a way as to 
become pulverized ; when a blast of wind is enabled to scatter it 
through the air. 

The singular agreement between the order of creation in the 
1st chapter of Genesis, and the above classification, is worthy of 
notice. God first created light, i.e. the most immaterial element, 
and which, in the mere act of explosion, may be supposed to have 
obtained the highly purified portion of materialism which it possesses. 
He next formed air, to divide the waters from the waters, and 
which may be supposed to have taken its material or aqueous pro- 
perty, from the more refined portions of these rising waters ; then he 
commanded the waters to assemble, by which means, they not only 
became more pure themselves, and formed a separate element ; but 
left thereby the earth dry, making thus the fourth principal essence 
in nature. 

Thus, I should say, that the union of materialism and immaterialism 
commences at that point where fluidity is produced by the induction 
of heat ; that every thing capable of confinement, or expulsion, or of 
being- tangible, or discernible by material agency, may be considered 
material, all others immaterial ; and that the latter is the originating, 
supporting-, and controlling power over the former. 

And now, let me observe, a remarkable fact relative to air, from 
which it appeals (as in the case of light), more than ever probable 
that it proceeded direct from God himself. 



262 NOTES TO CANTO VIII. 

Music is produced by different concussions upon air, and in pro- 
portion to its rarefaction, I should say its beauty of tone increased ; 
this cause alone, must have the effect to render the harmony in 
heaven superior to that upon earth ; to which may be added the 
immortal powers of the heavenly choirs. But the circumstance to 
which I more particularly desire to call attention, is, that in muisc, 
there are seven perfect notes, the intermediate sharps and flats, with 
all others, being only half and quarter sounds, &c. or connecting tones 
between two whole ones. Here is the favourite number of God. 

Again, take for instance the common chord of C, and strike a 
single note, — let it be of ever so fine a tone, there is no melody in it ; 
strike two (viz. first and third), the sound is better, but still no 
melody ; add the fifth, and you are immediately struck with the har- 
monious result ; here then are three sounds, at equal distances, 
required before you can produce upon the air a truly musical effect. 
How does this at once declare the Ubiquity of the Triune God ! 

I now give the few following texts in confirmation of the prefer, 
ence given by the Almighty to the numbers three and seven ; which 
(even excepting those relative to Solomon's Temple, and the Jewish 
rites which are so numerous), run thus : — 

" And he lift up his eyes and looked, and, lo, three men stood by him."&c. — Gen. 
xviii. 2. 

" Then shalt thou go on forward from thence, and thou shalt come to the plain of Tabor, 
and there shall meet thee three men going up to God to Bethel, one carrying three kids, 
and another carrying three loaves of bread," &c. — 1 Sam. x. 3. 

" And when thou hast stayed three days * * * * * * * 

M And I will shoot three arrows on the side thereof, as though I shot at a mark."— 1 Sam. 
xx. 19, 20. 

And he took three darts in his hand, and thrust them through the heart of Absalom while 
he was yet alive in the midst of the oak." — 2 Sam. xviii. 14. 

" Go and say unto David, thus saith the Lord, I offer thee three things," &c. — 2 Sam. 
xxiv. 12. 

" While Peter thought on the vision, the Spirit said unto him, behold, three men seek 
thee. 

" Arise therefore, and get thee down, and go with them, doubting nothing : for I have 
sent them." — Acts x. 19, 20. 

" On the east three gates ; on the north three gates; on the south three gates ; and on 
the^west three gates."— Rev. xxi. 13. 

** And Balaam said unto Balak, build me here seven altars, and prepare me here seven 
oxen and seven rams." 



NOTES TO CANTO VIII. 263 

" And God met Balaam : and he said unto him, I have prepared seven altars, and I 
offered upon every altar a bullock and a ram."— Num. xxiii. 1, 4. 

" And seven priests shall bear before the ark seven trumpets of rams horns : and the 
seventh day ye shall compass the city seven times, and the priests shall blow with the trum- 
pets."— Josh, vi. 4. 

" And the ark of the Lord was in the country of the Philistines seven months."— Sam. 
vi. 1. 

** And when he had destroyed seven nations in the land of Canaan, he divided their land 
to them by lot." — Acts xiii. 19. 

" The mystery of the seven stars which thou sawest in my right hand, and the seven 
golden candlesticks. The seven stars are the angels of the seven churches : and the seven 
candlesticks which thou sawest are the seven churches."— Rev. i. 20. 

" And I beheld, and lo, in the midst of the throne and of the four beasts, and in the 
midst of the elders, stood a lamb as it had been slain, having seven horns and seven eyes, 
which are the seven spirits of God sent forth into all the earth."— Rev. v. 6. 



Page 248, line 11. 

As if she fain would penetrate, to dwell 
For evermore in that dear side, from which 
She w as so lately taken . 

Many have been the endeavours, to prove that our First Mother 
could not have been really formed out of one of Adam's ribs ; one party 
declaring that it is only symbolical ; another, that the Hebrew is 
wrongly translated. The latter opinion is not for discussion in this 
work ; I shall therefore content myself with plain arguments against 
both ideas, thus defending Revelation in its present form. 

I am aware that it has been a favourite plan with many commen- 
tators to represent the whole of the three or four first chapters of 
Genesis as allegorical, and that, in fact, all that we read about the 
Tree of Life and the Tree of Knowledge, the Serpent, &c. are but 
fabulous illustrations of virtue, vice, and temptation ; and which is 
done under the declared intention of removing scepticism, by render- 
ing the doctrines of the Bible more clear to the understanding. But 
how impolitic is such a course ! for if these first few chapters of Genesis 
are fabulous, the whole book is possibly so, and by analogy the remain- 
der of .Revelation ; and thus the believer, or rather fancied believer, 



264 NOTES TO CANTO VIII. 

grants the infidel's prime and most withering; premises, viz, " That 
the Bible is a cunningly devised fable /" After such an admission, he 
cannot with any face attempt to defend a single tenet, since the pilla r 
upon which the whole fabric rested has been knocked away, and the 
structure must consequently fall to the ground. 

It has been my humble endeavour to tread a different path, for I 
contend that every thing mentioned in the Bible is essentially cor- 
rect, having actually happened, and even in the order assigned ; al- 
though so regularly and beautifully directed by a divine hand, that 
throughout it admits of spiritual interpretation ; and I firmly believe, 
that in heaven one of the chief joys will be this tracing of earthly 
occurrences in connection with heavenly effects ; while heli will be 
rendered more tormenting from the circumstance of man's general 
resistance to interpretation of events ; in fact, that we shall look 
back (wherever we may be) upon the whole course of time, and 
the different members of the universe, as having been guided by the 
hand of God, in a similar way to the pieces on a chess-board under 
the control of a skilful player, often appearing to be in confusion 
and without an object, but in reality all advancing to one final and 
victorious point. 

To the subject then more immediately in connection with this note, 
I proceed, and trust I shall be able to show, that, so far from being 
contrary to sense, it is in strict accordance with the wisdom and 
foreknowledge of God. 

Marriage being an institution of so much importance to the con- 
tinuation of the human species, it was requisite to impress upon man- 
kind the necessity of husband and wife being considered as one, and 
consequently to be an inseparable connection, save by the dispensa- 
tion of the Creator of All. Had Eve been only formed from the dust 
of the ground, in the same way as Adam had been, and which some 
have asserted, they could not have been one but two, and the follow- 
ing exclamation would have been absurd : — 

" And Adam said, This is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh : she shall be 
called Woman, because she was taken out of Man. 

" Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife : 
and they shall be one flesh."— Gbn. ii. 23, 24. 



NOTES TO CANTO VIII. 265 

I am aware that the objector states, the translation ought to be " bone 
like unto my bones, and flesh like unto my flesh ;" but how then 
could Adam declare, that for this cause a man shall leave father and 
mother and cleave to his ivife, when it is known that a child must of 
necessity partake most intimately of the same substances as its 
parents ; and therefore the son would more properly cleave to his 
father and mother than to his wife. 

It might be here said, that if it was necessary for the first woman to 
be taken out of the side of her husband, how is it that such has not 
continued to be the case with all other females up to the present time ? 
I answer, that it is not requisite, since man is no longer formed 
after the same order that he was at the creation ; but is born of 
parents : so also, therefore, must woman enter the world to be still of 
the same nature with him. Thus is it wisely ordained, that by means 
of intermarriage, the whole human race should be united in one 
common family; and as man originally bore woman, so woman 
now in return bears both sexes, and the chain is thus continued un- 
broken : besides, as the first female was the offspring of her husband, 
and all her daughters partake of her nature, whilst the sons of Adam 
take after him, woman may still be considered essentially, and in a 
collective sense, to have sprung from man ; and thus even now 
the blessing of God, and the union of heart and hand, is only re- 
quired to make the relationship complete and inviolable. 



Page 251, line 23. 

TJie First of Sabbaths on Primeval Earth. 

Great have been the endeavours to prove unnecessary the observance 
of the Sabbath at the present day; whole treatises have appeared for 
this sole purpose ; but, like all works for the perversion of Religion 
and her rights, they have ever been founded on ignorance, falsehood, 
and the most puerile reasoning. The following texts among others, 
have been quoted by these false arguers in support of their assertion : — 



266 NOTES TO CANTO VIII. 

" Bring no more vain oblation? ; incense is an abomination unto me ; the new moons and 
Sabbaths, the calling of assemblies I cannot away with ; it is iniquity, even the solemn 
meeting. 

" Your new moons and your appointed feasts my soul hateth : they are a trouble unto 
me ; I am weary to bear them."— Isa. i. 13, 14. 

" And he said unto them, the Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath." — 
Mark ii.27. 

" Let no man therefore judge you in meat, or in drink, or in respect of an holyday, or of 
the new moon, or of the Sabbath days." — Colos. ii. 16. 

'* One man esteemeth one day above another; another esteemeth every day alike. Let 
every man be fully persuaded in his own mind." — Rom. xiv. 5. 

There is an old saying 1 , that " the Devil can quote Scripture for 
his purpose ;" and the above, I think, amply proves it, since taking 
first, for instance, the texts from Isaiah ; why does God express his 
hatred of the Sabbaths, &c. ? Not on account of the observances them- 
selves, but on account of the hypocrisy shewn in their performance, 
and which the verses that immediately follow prove : — 

" And when ye spread forth your hands, I will hide mine eyes from you : yea, when ye 
make many prayers, I will not hear : your hands are full of blood. 

" Wash you, make you clean : put away the evil of your doings from before mine eyes ; 
cease to do evil ; 

" Learn to do well ; seek judgment, relieve the oppressed, judge the fatherless, plead for 
the widow." — Isa. i. 15, 17. 

Here then was the cause why God was disgusted with religious 
rites ; and here also he points out the means of rendering them again 
acceptable to him. 

Again, regarding the quotation from St. Mark — what follows : — 
" Therefore the Son of man is Lord also of the Sabbath."— Mark ii. 28. 

Thus our blessed Saviour intended that the Sabbath was a day set 
apart for man's observance, rest, and happiness, in remembrance of 
God's creative work, and not that man should be rendered wretched 
by it, as if he had been made only to observe the Sabbath ; and that 
he, as God and Man, had a right to direct how it should be kept. 

Lastly, in the texts extracted from Romans and Colossians, Paul 
does not infer the non-observance of the sacred day, but only a proper 
charity respecting minor tenets relating thereto in different believers' 
minds, for (after mentioning various peculiarities of belief) he 
makes the following declaration : — 



NOTES TO CANTO VIII. 267 

" Andhethatdoubtethisdarrmedif he eat, because he eateth not of faith : for whatso- 
ever is not of faith is sin."— Rom. xiv. 23. 

But what faith, may I ask, is there in a man getting intoxicated, and 
rioting in every species of debauchery on a Sunday ? Such can only be 
of the Devil and not of God. The unfortunate fact is, that fanata- 
cism would rob the poor man of every blessing and comfort, and 
render the Sabbath a curse to him ; while infidelity would destroy 
even the very semblance of such a day ; the latter has hitherto been too 
strong, I am sorry to say, for those who advocate the happy medium. 

There is not a doubt, then, that the Sabbath Day has always 
been by God required to be observed, from the creation up to the 
present time, and our Saviour says — 

" Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets : I am not come to 
destroy but to fulfil. 

" For verily I say unto you, till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no 
wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled. 

" Whosoever therefore shall break one of these least commandments, and shall teach men 
so, he shall be called the least in the kingdom of heaven : but whosoever shall do and teach 
them, the same shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven." — Mat. v. 17, 19. 

What is the observance of the Sabbath but one of these very com- 
mandments contained in the Law ? 



Page 253, line 20. 

" ivhose vital stem, 
By daily use gives durability. 
To dusC 

The Tree of Life has generally been considered of such a nature, 
that could Adam and Eve have eaten of it previous to their 
quitting the garden of Eden, they would never have died; the 
fallacy of this idea, I trust, I shall easily expose, for it will be 
remembered that God gave them leave to eat of every tree in the 
garden, save the Tree of Knowledge ; and therefore it is not likely 
but so conspicuous a tree as the Tree of Life would have been 
tasted by them before their fall ; and thus had they been, prior 
to sinning, rendered immortal, and so incapable of dying; and 



268 XOTES TO CANTO VITI. 

consequently, like the Devils, could not have heen redeemed by the 
death of Christ ; but some other mode must have been invented, if 
any other could in accordance with God's justice, which is not 
probable. 

I have imagined, therefore, that the Tree of Life was planted for the 
purpose of daily renewing the vitality of Adam and Eve's bodies, so 
that while they were obedient they might remain immortal in frame 
as they were already in spirit ; but upon disobeying, they were ejected 
from Paradise to prevent them from continuing by the same means 
always in a state of sin ; and thus from that time, they and their pro- 
geny became subject to the daily advance of years, and consequent 
approach of disease and death, having lost all means of application to 
this diurnal restorative of youth and vigour. 



Page 254, line 13. 

" This is the third and final overthrow 
Of Satan and his tribe, thus to avenge 
Each Power of my Triple Providence.'''' 

I have in an early note to this work stated the idea, that the crime 
of Satan and his adherents, which caused them the eternal loss of 
heaven, was most likely the unpardonable sin spoken of by our Saviour, 
and which was evidently an irreverent and wilful misrepresentation of 
the powers of God's Holy Spirit or Soul. 

Supposing therefore the above to be correct (and which the reader 
will, I feel assured, allow is highly probable), 1 now proceed to show 
how the Devil will hereafter (when ultimately bound for eternity) 
have rebelled three times, each time being against a different portion 
of the Trinity, in order to try the possibility of success against some 
one of them, hoping thereby to shake the united Omnipotence of the 
Triune God ; and how each Power will of himself have achieved a 
complete victory, and thus trebly blasted the daring and infatuated 
Apostate ; and finally in Tri-unity of majesty have destroyed his influ- 
ence over every portion of creation everlastinglv. 



NOTES TO CANTO VIII. 269 

Advancing on the supposed foundation of this poem, that Lucifer 
was the cause of Chaos ; I state, that first Satan rebelled by- 
blaspheming- the Spirit of God, by ascribing to himself powers 
which could alone belong- to that blessed Being ; this act rendered 
him impure, by which means he was no longer able to keep his foot- 
ing in heaven, but fell, causing Chaos in his descent. This was the 
victory of the Pure and Holy Spirit. 

But confusion thus having commenced in space, and which a God of 
order could not allow, the Father or Mind originates the plan of the 
Universe out of this confused heap of matter ; and thus assisted by the 
other two (for be it remembered, the Godhead is inseparable, although 
any one may take perchance a more prominent part occasionally), 
achieves his conquest, and removes the effects of Satan's rebellion 
by the creation ; this is God's second victory. 

The Devil, then after this great work, according to revelation, 
rebels a second time by seducing man ; and thus so polluting 
the creation of the Almighty, as to induce him to curse the whole 
on man's account, for all the hosts of the firmament, we are told, will 
be destroyed at the Judgment. But his revenge is not complete : 
there is yet a third one of the Triple Godhead remaining ; the 
Word or Son, who descending, conquers again by salvation, this 
real Hydra of so many heads of subtlety ; this actual Cerberus of 
triple daring of brain, and bruises his head irremediably. 

But he is not totally destroyed ; a third attempt is made (recorded by 
John in the Revelations), when, after having accused the redeemed day 
and night before God, he makes upon these grounds a grand effort 
to establish himself once more in heaven. Then Michael, again 
armed with God's vengeance, ejects him : when comes the united 
and final overthrow, based upon Christ's atonement ; Satan is bound 
(this is the third conquest) ; the universe becomes a Chaos again ; is 
thus purified from all attaint by God, and is called forth into a new 
creation, never more to be polluted by this enemy of order and hap- 
piness. Here then is the grand and united consummationary point, 
in which the three individual victories unite in a common focus ; and 
thus Satan has rebelled thrice, and thrice been conquered ! 



270 NOTES TO CANTO VIII. 

Page 256, line 14. 
" Father,— forgive, — they know not ivhat they do" 

In conclusion. — If the Reader supposes I have written this work 
under the delusive supposition of my being able to unfold the hidden 
mysteries of God, he knows me not ; I lay down my pen, well con- 
vinced of the greatness and unsearchable wisdom of Jehovah, and of 
the perfect insignificance of Man. 

May the above line apply to me if I have done that I ought not to 
have done, or left undone that I ought to have done. My intention I 
may safely say (that is, as far as I know myself) has been for the best •' 
yet, do I not expect, in these days of learning and talent, to escape 
scatheless ; should I be so happy as to gain a victory, T must cal- 
culate upon wounds, or else there were no honour in the triumph. 
All I can say is, I am ready and willing to meet a fair antagonist ; 
and shall at some future time, in the shape of a Supplement to this 
ivor/c, again I hope enter the Lists ; when with my Bible as a 
shield, my pen as a lance, and the armour of good intention, I shall 
not fear, with a blessing from a Higher Power, of giving infidelity 
and my opponents a heavy fall. 



ERRATA. 

Argument, Page 80, twelfth line from the top, for principals read principles. 
98, line 5, for precints read precincts. 
140, bottom line, for bending read rending. 
162, line 20, for improbability read improbability. 
168, line 4, of bottom note for originally read original. 
204, line 9, for heae read here. 



APPENDIX. 



OBSERVATIONS 



ON 



THE NATURE OF THE EPIC POEM 



BLANK VERSE. 



PREPARATORY REMARK, 



" Men have got a fashion now-a-days, that two or three busy-hodies will take upon 
them the name of the world, and broach their own conceits as if they were a general 
opinion."- 



The above quotation must be allowed (however reluctantly) to apply 
to the present era with too much aptitude ; and superior talent of 
every description is thus often suffered to sink into oblivion, only 
because it is too generous to succumb to a fashionable opinion ; which, 
perhaps, has no other origin than the whim of some modern critic. 
At the same time, it is truly delightful to contemplate the disinterested 
earnestness with which numerous journalists defend the struggling 
aspirant; and even, while directing his attention to what they con- 
sider faults, appear so much the friends and mild advisers of the 
author or artist, that their criticisms are more like the rebukes of 
a kind parent, than the flagellations of the austere schoolmaster. 

It has been my happiness to experience generally the amicable 
treatment, and therefore I feel it incumbent upon me, out of respect 
to my Reviewers, not to pass unnoticed their very feiv (for such I 
may call them) objections to my first two Cantos, lest it might seem, 
in instances of my non-compliance with their recommendations, that 
I was arrogantly unwilling to be advised or improved. On this ac- 
count the present Appendix is written, and 1 would wish itto be un- 
derstood, I am still open to conviction by means of argument. 



THE NATURE OF 



EPIC POEM and BLANK VERSE. 



Perhaps there is no species of composition that has been 
more discussed, and with less definitive success, than the Epic 
Poem ; one learned critic holding one doctrine with regard to 
its necessary qualities, another another. This misunderstand- 
ing has caused a general panic amongst writers of modern date, 
and has induced our youthful bards to content themselves with 
didactic scraps and lyric odes, doubting whether an epic poem 
from their pens would be considered an epic poem ; while elder 
poets have not attempted the undertaking, fearing their span 
of years would not be sufficient for its accomplishment. It is 
high time, therefore, that there was some fixed rule laid down, 
as opposing ideas cannot all be correct ; and although I have not 
the vanity to imagine I am able by myself to do this, yet I do 
feel convinced that the endeavour will be appreciated, and with 
the assistance of others, the object ultimately attained. 

T 2 



274 ON THE EPIC POEM 

Epic (from 'tiros a word) properly means a narrative, and 
therefore, any poem partaking of an historical, or traditionary 
character, might claim thus to be distinguished ; but as the 
term has been originally adopted in accordance with those 
two talented productions, The Iliad of Homer, and The 
.Eneid op Virgil ; some respect is due to the plan and 
objects of these originators of the Epopceia. 

Some critics have gone so far as to affirm that no other works 
but the foregoing deserve the designation of Epic ; but this is 
absurd, as it stands to reason that all formed upon their model 
have a right to claim a like distinction, although perhaps not 
so successful in their subjects or treatment. However, setting 
aside such fastidious judges, we will come to the more lenient 
opinions, and from them draw a general conclusion. 

All unite by insisting upon the following requisites, viz. that 
the Epos writer shall first choose some very sublime or impor- 
tant event to celebrate, which would not have happened but 
for the virtue, valour, and uncommon powers of some one par- 
ticular character, and who is thus made the Hero. That having 
agreed upon this point, the next is its execution, which re- 
quires that it shall not be tedious to the reader, lest one object, 
(viz. the animating his soul to great and glorious works) should 
thereby be defeated, he becoming tired of his poetical instruc- 
tor. That morality shall be displayed in its most winning 
garb, and vice contemned. That there shall be other characters 
besides the hero, both good and bad, to assist in the ultimate 
attainment of the principal event, towards which all other 
occurrences must be made to tend. Episodes are allowed, but 



AND BLANK VERSE. 275 

they must not be as it were stuck on to the poem * but so inter- 
woven with the main subject, as to form an advantageous, 
although strictly speaking not an essential part of the story. 
These comprise judicious representations of storms and various 
phenomena, virtuous love scenes, and general descriptions of 
the works of Nature ; and thus the Poem is rendered highly in- 
teresting and instructive, although invested with sublimity of 
thought, and dignity of language. 

But I now come to the points upon which critics disagree, 
and shall endeavour to prove from those upon which they are 
unanimous, towards which side the reader ought to lean, by 
showing that one party contradict themselves, whilst the others 
are truly consistent. 

Some assert the necessity of the Hero being always succes- 
ful in his enterprize, and consequently a happy termination 
given to the whole subject ; whilst others, for the sake of saving 
from animadversion or exclusion, one or two favourite bards, 
declare that such is unnecessary, and that a tragic final is not 
out of character with the Epic rule. The first set contend for 
simplicity of style, combined with sublimity of expression ; the 
second, for abstruse modes of diction to produce exaltation., and, 
have even gone so far as to declare that the greatest proof of 
poetry being poetry, is the necessity of the reader being con- 
stantly obliged to pause, ere he can discover the author's inten- 
tion. Other ideas have been promulgated equally at variance, 
but being on minor points, I shall proceed at once, from the 
foregoing dogmas and other data, to show the real nature and 
needful restrictions of Epic composition. 



276 ON THE EPIC POEM 

The subject must be great ; in this respect there is no maxi- 
mum ; if possible it ought to be one which has been of a para- 
mount importance to the class or classes for whom it is cele- 
brated. The Hero must be one transcendantly conspicuous 
for his excellence, so that the heart is gained while the brain 
contemplates his magnanimity : all other characters should be 
kept as it were in relief to this principal one, never clashing, vie- 
ing with, or surpassing him in any way ; to him all eyes should 
be directed ; in him all affections centred ; by this means the 
very first and universally acknowledged object of the poem is pro- 
bably attained, viz. the inspiriting the reader with a desire of 
following as near as possible so admirable a model. 

Homer and Virgil have well performed these primal requi- 
sites, for the Achilles of the one, and the iEneas of the other, 
are both remarkable {according to heathen theology) for their 
piety, bravery, and general superiority of character ; and al- 
though these deservedly admired bards represent their respec- 
tive heroes as committing many acts, which in these enlightened 
times would be considered criminal, yet as they were not 
contrary to the tenets of their faith, but in most instances, 
strictly in accordance with it, their intention must still be 
allowed to have been of the very best order. 

Another ever requisite point is, that the final event be ob- 
tained by the hero, and not by others, although they may aid in 
various ways. An epic hero who is acted upon, instead of acting, 
or who is conquered instead of conquering, is an absurdity, as 
no one would choose him as an example to follow ; and notwith- 
standing the pertinacious endeavours of many, to prove that a 



AND BLANK VERSE, 277 

tragic end may be allowed, they only stultify thereby their first 
and always admitted requisite, the exaltation of the reader or 
hearer, since a tragic termination has the effect to depress the 
spirits, instead of raising them, and induce one to lay down 
the volume as containing rules not to be followed, rather than imi- 
tated; on the contrary, it is more judicious to begin with some 
sad event, and lead on by degrees to a happy consummation in 
another ; by which means the reader leaves off in a far superior 
state of mind to that in which he commenced, and thus the 
first and greatest object is attained. 

The next point is the duration of action in the Epic Poem, 
and about which there has been much difference of opinion ; 
some contending for years, others for months, and days ; but 
surely it signifies little, as long as the final event itself is 
stupendous, and the period assigned is sufficient for its accom- 
plishment ; for a great deed performed in a short space of 
time, is rather enhanced than depreciated by such despatch. 
The Poet, therefore, has only to introduce by means of episodes, 
either past or prospective occurrences, and he may extend a 
work whose real action only lasts a few days, over any extent 
of years he may please j since a Poem of less than two or three 
thousand lines can hardly claim the distinction of the Epopceia. 
Of course, much in this respect depends upon the subject ; and 
therefore, the Author ought to endeavour not to be unnecessarily 
prolix, or unsatisfactorily concise. 

The next thing to be considered is the versification, and in 
which I may by many be considered rather too exclusive ; but 
I trust it will be allowed, that my ideas on the subject are at 



278 ON THE EPIC POEM 

any rate supported by argument ; as a mere opinion (whoever 
might be the promulgator), would receive no attention from me, 
and therefore I should never expect that, which I would not 
render myself. 

Blank verse then, I contend, is the only proper medium of 
relation for the Epos, since rhyme is opposed to sublimity ; a 
few lines may sound well enough, but the ear at last tires with 
the unceasing jingle, and a careless and monotonous way of 
reading is the consequence. Besides, such a mode of writing 
is contrary to the two great epic productions, The Iliad and 
The iENEiD, and consequently has no right to be placed 
under the same denomination ; as also, it is the style in which 
minor, and indeed it may be said the most trivial effusions are 
clothed ; and therefore poetry would be thus brought (at any 
rate in versification) to one level, a circumstance which would 
deteriorate greatly from the superiority of epic composition ; 
it is therefore desirable to proceed to an examination of the 
nature of blank verse. 

Blank verse should be so contrived, that when read mono- 
tonously, (£. e. by pausing at the end of each separate line, re- 
gardless of the real punctuation), it may almost induce the 
hearer to believe it is rhyme j and which at once renders it 
poetical, for it must be conceded, that many most insignificant 
productions are bearable from the circumstance of their being 
in rhyme, that at least having a musical effect, however great a 
poverty there be of language and ideas. But while the sound, 
when thus read or spoken, should be as nearly rhythmical as 
possible without being actually so, yet ought the sentences to be 



AND BLANK VERSE. 279 

so disposed, that by attending to the punctuation, monotony may 
be broken, and therefore the tale proceed with the same ease 
as though it were prose ; although occasionally, it has a pleasing 
and variable effect to punctuate, so as to produce monotony. 
By these means persons must read the poem tolerably well, and 
the impression wished to be produced must to a certain extent 
be effected. 

I am aware that many would disagree with the above, and 
state that monotonous lines were not of " classical" family ; but 
as I never advance any thing I am not prepared to support, my 
answer would not be long, nor I trust much from the purpose ; 
and in this way : amongst the ancient or classic writers, Epic 
and sublime poetry was almost always embodied in the hexame- 
ter metre, which consisting of six feet to each line, and in the 
composition of which, only the dactyle and spondee were allowed, 
an equality of length and sound was the result ; but this was not 
all, since it was imperative upon the poet to make the last two 
feet (not of whichever measure he might desire but) a dactyle 
and spondee, in order that each line might finish with a similar 
effect upon the ear : — what is this but monotony ? 

Another objection of modern criticism, and which is asserted 
to be founded on classical grounds, is equally erroneous with 
the foregoing, viz. the general opposition to the use of alliterated 
lines in epic and blank verse ; since the two finest classic com- 
positions of that description that have ever been produced, 
contain numerous examples of this " unclassical " mode of 
writing. The following quotations, taken casually from the 
first six books of each work, will peradventure suffice : — 



280 ON THE EPIC POEM 

From Homer/s Iliad. 

Lib. Liue. 

A'. ArgtiOYis Tl, avtt.% avogZv, xai %tog 'AyiXMvg. 7 

AXXci. to [azv 7rXuov 7toXvciiko$ 7rotep.oio. 165 

OiYj iv adavoiroicnv uukzx Xotybv ayJvv&t. 398 

B'. Ylf/Mq o Is oiKooctq dici>c.o<7-f/^6i7/uiv 'A^ato}. 126 

&.$ (p^/ir^ (p^r^^iv «g«y»j, (pvXtz ol tpliXoig. 363 

KofVv Krtrdv rs koltol y,\i<ria<;, y,ai dii7?vo)> zXovro. 399 

Y. Uar^i xi crS (Hycx. cr^as, 7roXr t t n, ttc&vti re $qft.w. 50 

Avrup o {tuxgov ctvriv oJvct| avapoov AyccfAZ^av. 81 

Kat yu^ ly&v \7r1x.0vQ0g icov yzrd roicny sAjp/^y. 188 

A'. M>j ttqiv avc/A^uav upyioi vhq A^caZv, 114 

Kas* <rv, xcHioict ctoXoicri xiKx^iyi, x.spc$ccXzo(ppov. 339 

~Xvvro %u,p,ct.l ftoXaoig' Toy 01 (tkotos otrcr IkuXv^/S. q9Q 

E'. 'E'lx.in, ftridl $Jioiq ftiviuivzpzv i(pi {/.dyjcrQcci. 606 

0/ 7roXXoi n xc&i ItrSXot Itpzo-rctcrciv zy%l z%ovTig. g94 

Awpdcnv ApyiloKTiv aXz%zu.ivai yzuccvioci. nng 

Z'. Tg^25 V7TlP$VpOl, TYjXlX-XilTOl T 17T IX.OV £0 1 . JJ| 

U^yj/ea oog TTlcrisiv 'Sx.ctiZv 7T^07rd^oth TTvXclav. 307 

'A^ 072 rqv UTrzXvirz., Xc/Jom oi.7ri^ii<rl u,7rotvoc. 4,917 

From Virgil's #Cneid. 

Lib. Line. 

I. Haec ubi dicta, cavum conversa cuspide montem. 81 

Interea magno misceri murmure pontum. 124 

At freta Sicaniae saltern, sedesque paratas. 557 

TI. Insontem, infando indicio, quia bella vetabat. 84 

Delitui, dum vela darent, si forte dedissent. 136 

Ascensu supero, atque arrectis auribus adsto. 303 

III. Delectos populi ad proceres, primumque parentem. 58 
Virginei volueram vultus, foedissima ventris. 216 
Sortitur, volvitque vices ; is vertitur ordo. 376 

IV. Isque amens animi, et rumore accensus amaro. 203 
Maeonia rnentum mitra crinemque roadentum. 216 
Quippe tuis ferimus, famamque fovemus inanem. 218 

V. Parte prior ; partem rostro premit aemula Pristis. L87 
Victori velatum auro vittisque juvencum. 366 
Jactantemque utroque caput, crassumque cruorem. 469 

VI. Purpureo ; solemque suum, sua sidera ndrunt. 641 
Mens agitat molem, et magno se corpore miscet. 727 
Neu patriae validas in viscera vertite vires. 833 



AND BLANK VERSE. 281 

Many would consider the foregoing sufficient authority for 
the use of alliteration ; but I do not coincide in such opinion, 
as even those great masters of poetry, did not always use it so 
judiciously as they might have done, and consequently the 
effect is often improperly harsh ; indeed it is probable they 
never contemplated & fixed rule for its adoption. I shall there- 
fore proceed with the attempt of forming one. 

Poetry is the very highest order of song, and as such should 
be bound by the same rules as Music. When a composer 
wishes to convey the idea of any thing direful, he throws in a 
discord ; of sorrowful, a minor key ; breaking forth again into con- 
cord, or the major key, upon resuming tranquillity or happiness. 
Such ought to be in poetry the use of alliteration, to produce 
a discordant or sorrowful sound upon the ear. Another reason 
equally strong, and founded also on musical precepts, may be 
given, viz. should a composer wish to produce a powerful and 
startling effect upon an audience, nothing will so much tend to 
it as throwing together in the same passage notes and chords 
which are ramifications of the same key, from the circumstance 
of their vibrating into each other : whereas let him change rapidly 
from one key to another, and they destroy each other's vibra- 
tion. So with alliteration ; every word in a line beginning with 
the same letter causes a powerful vibration on the ear, which is 
immediately destroyed by another letter leading : a guttural 
and labial, for instance, cannot vibrate into each other, and 
thus they are both impoverished. Alliteration should therefore 
be used in Poetry as the above effects are in Music, to break 
monotony, and occasionally add depression or vigour. 



282 ON THE EPIC POEM 

And here let me observe that, considering how much depends 
upon the manner in which a poem is read, I am astonished, 
authors have never yet established a system of signs or marks, 
similar to those in music, by which means the reader (or as it 
might be then very properly termed the performer) would be 
enabled to give the different intonations and effects intended 
by the writer : thus would be produced corresponding results 
to the adagio, affettuoso, amoroso, andantino, the calendo, forte, 
maestoso, morendo, &c. &c. &c. movements ; and poetry would 
become as much a science to the reader as the writer, and 
an author's intentions oftener be perceived and appreciated. 
Tis true, the different kinds of punctuation are intended in part 
to regulate the voice ; but they fail (excepting with good 
readers) of their effect, as they can but convey the idea of how 
long a pause shall take place between certain sentences and 
words : whereas, were the above mode adopted, I am confident 
of its benefits ; and poetry would no longer show the loss it 
sustained, when, in former days, it was severed from music : 
for originally all verse was connected with musical tones, and 
was always sung instead of being said or read. 

Another most general but erroneous idea prevails, that the 
more abstruse and difficult the wording of an Epic Poem, the 
more sublime is its effects. Nothing can be more completely 
contrary to the rule observed in those two master-pieces, to 
which I have already so often referred, and whose authority 
none dare deny, unless they are prepared to be pronounced in- 
competent in judgment : for it is a well known fact, that Homer 
and Virgil are almost the first works in Greek and Latin of any 



AND BLANK VERSE. 283 

consequence that are put into a boys hand at school ; and that 
it is a common thing to say, that if he has read one book, 
he can read all, so easy is the Etyle considered ; and when it 
is taken into consideration that they are in different tongues to 
our own, their perspicuity is proved still more. The author, 
therefore, who wishes to become an epic writer, ought to endea- 
vour to be intelligible; for it is easy enough to bewilder, but 
not so to explain : certainly, there are many subjects which 
rather lose grandeur by overstrained explanation ; still it is ever 
better to err on that side than the other, and for the reader to 
retire not so overpowered with the sublimity of the work, yet 
having gained instruction from it, than to lay it down, con- 
vinced it must be something very fine, because not one word 
has he been able to understand during his perusal of it. 

Another point to be considered is, the privilege of coining, 
which has ever been allowed to poets before all others, from 
the circumstance of their very often not being able to find a 
recognized word, to convey the full extent of their meaning ; 
and also to avoid tautology. At the same time, much care ought 
to be observed in so doing, since they should remember that 
their endeavour ought to be to enrich their language, and 
this will not be the case if they send forth inelegant expres- 
sions. But our poets have generally satisfied themselves by 
taking the finest words from other languages, and adapting 
them to our own ; winch must be allowed as the safest and 
most likely to be successful mode of coining, since by this 
means we get the cream of other tongues. Shakspeare was not 
so particular, but he was always happy in his invention, and so 



284 ON THE EPIC POEM 

added much to the stores of the lexicographer. Authors there- 
fore ought to be particular that new words should be either 
apt in their sound and application, or classical in their deriva- 
tion ; and thus instead of subjecting themselves to censure, 
they will be acknowledged sooner or later to have conferred 
a benefit upon their native tongue. 

Another point there is of consequence, being to avoid as 
much as possible tautology, since the poet is looked up to as 
one who ought to form the style of others when writing prose ; 
many have adopted a contrary mode of composition, and it 
must be admitted with considerable success ; yet repetitions, ex- 
cept in very particular cases, are always irksome, and conse- 
quently the epic writer again fails of attracting that attention 
which it ought to be his endeavour to secure. 

Lastly, it must be allowed, that as the peculiar character of 
epic poetry, is to instil moral and religious doctrines, and to 
induce the reader (as nearly as possible) to aim at possessing 
the same excellent qualities as the hero, no ideas ought ever 
to find entrance but such as are in accordance with or not con- 
trary to the faith adopted by the author ; since if he attend not 
to this particular, he must fail of a principal object, viz. the 
probable improvement of the morality and religion of the 
reader ; for, if he pursue a different course by mingling other 
tenets with his own, his work will be laid down by the Believer 
as containing no real doctrine, — by the Infidel, as only proving 
more and more his assertion, that all religions are equally good, 
— and by persons of every denomination, as being perchance 
a pleasing tale ; but having no ultimate end to attain but the 



AND BLANK VERSE. 285 

amusement of those who may peruse it. Such a work cannot be 
called sublime, as it does not raise the soul to a contemplation 
of the acknowledged God and heaven of the country or class 
for whom it is written : a requisite that both Homer and 
Virgil attended to, leaving no possibility of the least charge 
of inconsistency being brought against them. On this last point 
I defy successful opposition ; here onhj I deny the authority of 
the antients ; for I do contend, we have no right to intro- 
duce into Christian poems heathen doctrines and ideas, unless 
they can be evidently traced up to the true source of early reli- 
gion, yet not even then until remodelled to our present faith ; 
for, by a contrary course, we are only committing a robbery, 
without benefiting ourselves. 

In conclusion, I have to observe, that considering how all 
nations in former times seemed to improve in science, and every 
species of civilization in proportion to their advance in poeti- 
cal superiority, I am astonished that, comparatively speaking, 
so little encouragement is given to the study in these modern 
days, particularly at the Universities ; it is true there are yearly 
prizes established at Cambridge and Oxford for the best English 
Poems ; but it is not reckoned a necessary part of the educa- 
tion of the student. It may be said, <■ you cannot make a 
poet :" true, but many are never known, owing to the difficulty 
which exists of bringing their productions to a public test ; 
it may as well be affirmed ee you cannot make a mathematician," 
but that is no reason why mathematics are not to be enforced 
as a necessary study at college, — many a high wrangler would 
be lost if such were the custom at those seats of learning. 



286 ON THE EPIC POEM, &c. 

I hope to see the period when poetry will be again revived 
as a medium for every kind of instruction ; for the mind, it is 
certain, would' more easily retain knowledge which it received 
by that mode of conveyance than any other. 

Finally, I trust I shall be allowed to state that as Poetry, 
Painting, and Music may be considered three delightful sisters, 
who are ever more lovely when gracefully united, the study of 
all three is requisite to the attainment of eminence and favour 
with any one ; but more specially should the Poet cultivate the 
triple acquaintance, he having made choice of the superior 
nymph as his tutelary deity ; and since she is never so truly 
happy as when in company with the other two, that Bard is 
likely and ought to be most successful who has sacrificed at all 
their shrines, nor will he ever have cause to repent his labours, 
let his situation in life be what it may. The example thus coin- 
ciding with the following precept of the most accomplished of 
Roman Orators; — 

** Haec studia adolescentiam alunt, senectutem oblectant, se- 
" cundas res ornant, adversis perfugium ac solatium prsebent : 
" delectant domi, non impediunt foris." — Cicero. 



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